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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898246">Final Show</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen'>DarkJediQueen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Stronger Will [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Discussion of Case Files, Established Relationship, Guide!Hotch, M/M, Sentinel!Reid, Sentinel/Guide are Known Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:15:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,381</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898246</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Life has settled for the Hotchner-Reid household following their finally fully settling as the highest-ranking pair in the FBI. Yet, there are those who still move in the shadows who want to figure out how Spencer settled so easily into being a Sentinel.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Stronger Will [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/489655</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>169</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Final Show</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><strong>Year</strong>: Season 6<br/><strong>Spoilers</strong>: Up Through Season 6<br/><strong>Notes</strong>: This is the final, thank you for reading<br/><strong>Beta</strong>: ScarsLikeVelvet</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p>
<p>Aaron Hotchner watched as his partner and Sentinel jiggled his leg as the jet started its descent into the airstrip used for the BAU's jets. Aaron wasn't sure what was wrong with Spencer, but he had been this way since they had got on the jet. Spencer had been a little on edge during the case and even before it, and he had just told Aaron that he wasn't sure what it was that was bothering him. No one at the station they had been working out of had a single issue with them as a pair, and they never approached either of them for anything other than their job. Which allowed Spencer to hide as the "guide" while working the case in the best way needed. It wasn't hard for them to work like that. It was second nature. It made things easier, and in all reality, Aaron would do anything that made cases easier.</p>
<p>The only issue had been when Aaron had claimed their keys to their rooms as JJ was stuck in a press conference. Aaron had found that the room he had booked for him and Spencer had been changed to a room with two beds instead of the one that he wanted. The clerk who handled them had made the comment that it was the standard room for all Sentinel/Guide pairings that were of the same sex. Aaron had to ask why his wishes were not being respected on what he and his Guide wanted. She had stuttered over it and said that it was policy. So Aaron had canceled the rooms and left it up to the Bureau to work on making sure that the refunds were made after he texted Strauss to get her to deal with it. </p>
<p>There was a hotel across the street from there. The clerk there had been more than happy to book them the rooms that they wanted, including a Sentinel friendly room with a single bed that was more than big enough for both of them, twice over. Morgan handled texting JJ the new location. Aaron had slept like a rock, wrapped around Spencer in that bed. It was one of the better Sentinel friendly rooms that he had ever been in. He made sure that JJ and Garcia both knew that if there was anything in this chain in the cities that they went to, he wanted it. </p>
<p>Still, it wasn't that which had set Spencer off. </p>
<p>The jet touched down, and just a single second before the light went off that said they needed to stay in their seats, Spencer was unbuckling himself. He was out the door as soon as it was opened and he was standing at the foot of the stairs looking up at the sky. The team stayed on the jet and just watched as Aaron approached Spencer. </p>
<p>"What's wrong?"</p>
<p>"My skin feels tight. I am not sure." </p>
<p>"Let's get home then. It's too late to even think about stopping at the office to do more than just drop everything off. JJ rode in with us so we can all go home together. She can drive."</p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head. He looked toward the horizon where the sun had dipped below the skyline a little while ago. Aaron never knew if he was listening to something when he did that or just looking at what the sky had looked like in his own mind. Spencer hadn't zoned on Aaron, even minorly in six months. It had been nearly a year since he had been kidnapped, and Aaron found that he was more settled now than he ever had been. Every single book that had been written by other Sentinels and Guides had not prepared Aaron for what it was really like to have a Sentinel. That wasn't even discounting what it was like to have one like Spencer. </p>
<p>No training should have meant that he should have been one of those ones who was struggling from day one. Spencer had called it instinct, but Aaron wasn't sure about that. He had learned to go with the flow, though when it came to his Sentinel. He wasn't going to do a damned thing that would cause Spencer pain. He loved him too much for that. I had loved him for too long before they had both come online. Aaron had never questioned his want of him, never doubted his love of him. Even when it was mostly forbidden by at least the way that it would have impacted their careers. Yeah, there was no rule against it really, but it would have been frowned upon, and Spencer's career would have been affected. Aaron's though was the highest he wanted it to go. He would take Section Chief if it was a choice between it and retiring out because of an injury that would keep him from the field, but that was it. </p>
<p>"Ready?" JJ asked as she stepped closer to them. </p>
<p>Aaron looked to see that Morgan was putting their things in the trunk of the car. He nodded his thanks, and Morgan just smiled. They had all known that Spencer was at odds with himself. It was the first time that Aaron thought that Spencer's human mind and his Sentinel's heart were in conflict. It wasn't going to be hard to get it figured out once Spencer started to give in to what he needed, what he wanted. </p>
<p>Spencer turned on his heel and walked to the car, getting into the backseat. Aaron followed along behind him and slipped in beside him, handing JJ the keys before shutting the door. She laughed as Spencer laid down with his head in Aaron's lap. The way he contorted in the backseat of the car was something that everyone laughed at. Aaron sometimes swore that despite the fact that his Spirit Animal was a fox, Spencer was a cat. He was exactly like one in the fact that he seemed to be liquid and made his body fit whatever he was in. It was entertaining to see him fit into places that no one should with the kids. </p>
<p>"Are you sure?" Aaron asked, finding that link in his head that was his strong connection to Spencer. They didn't use it often as they didn't feel the need, and Spencer had learned to control it just like everything else. Aaron had just followed along and learned what he needed to make sure that he didn't broadcast to more than just Spencer.</p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head. He closed his eyes and went nearly completely limp in Aaron's lap. Aaron reached down and started to card his fingers through Spencer's hair. Aaron lamented the loss of the stubble that he used to love to see on Spencer during long weekends. They had both gone through the hair removal process mainly because while Spencer had learned to deal with Aaron's hair, Henry had issues with it. He was more sensitive to irritants than Spencer was. And not being able to cuddle with who he wanted made things horrible. JJ and Will had gone through it as well, though Will had kept his beard; he kept it neatly trimmed when he wanted it and shaved clean when Henry wanted cuddles like that with him. </p>
<p>The drive took little time, at least what felt like it. Aaron knew that it was longer than it seemed, but with Spencer's head in his lap and Spencer calm for the first time since the case had started, Aaron found that his ability to just exist was higher than usual. The house was dark when they pulled up, but Aaron wasn't worried about that. Hell, he wasn't all that worried at all. Will would have told JJ where he was, and for JJ to be heading toward their house meant that Will and kids were there. The house next door was equally dark, but even Aaron felt the pull of Jack in their house instead of the JJ and Will's. </p>
<p>"Hey," Aaron said as he jiggled his leg a little bit. Spencer's eyes snapped open, and he looked at Aaron's face. </p>
<p>Aaron realized that Spencer had been faking being calm. He had just been focusing on something else to make his body relax like that. He was up and slipping out of the other side of the car before Aaron could react at all. Aaron got out and shut the car. As soon as he did, he heard the locks engage. JJ was at the door with a smile on her face. The silence of the trip had been fine, but now the silence of it all was coming down on Aaron. He tried to focus on Spencer but found that he was the source of the irritation. </p>
<p>Spencer stopped just the door, and he frowned. His head cocked to the side, and he reached out to the side of the house and the small decoration that showed the house number on it. He came back with something small in his hand. He held it up to his face for a few seconds before he closed his hand in a fist. Aaron was just getting to him when he heard the crunch of metal and plastic. </p>
<p>"Bag," Spencer said.</p>
<p>JJ nodded her head and slipped into the house. Spencer opened up his hand, and Aaron saw the camera there in it.</p>
<p>"Bugging our house is not something that someone wants to find out to have done. We have children, and videoing them like that could be bad. Especially since Jack's a Guide." </p>
<p>JJ appeared with a baggie in her hand, and Spencer dropped the crush bug in there. The techs at the FBI would be able to figure out who planted it. Once the bag was sealed, Spencer went right inside, and only the creak of the third step from the bottom told Aaron that he was going to check on the kids. Aaron locked up behind them. The bags could be gotten in the morning. JJ had carried in Spencer's messenger bag that he hadn't even noticed wasn't in the trunk. All of Aaron's files were in there for days like this. It made it so much easier to just have the critical shit in one bag. </p>
<p>"This isn't going to be good. The Director is already pissed off that the local higher-ups in the Center refuse to do anything about the few rogue elements that keep on harassing Spence. This is just going to be the icing on that cake."</p>
<p>"They are going to crucify them." Aaron knew that the team was pissed off on their behalf, but Aaron couldn't get Spencer to take the rogue elements seriously. They were buzzing gnats to him, but that was it. This might be what was needed to make him take them seriously. Aaron didn't worry about them in the way that he was afraid they were going to do something stupid, but he worried about the impact it was having on Spencer. There was a part of him that was turned into how much of an issue they were causing. Spencer had been on high alert before the case, and Aaron had to wonder if he was picking up on things happening in the neighborhood that had changed it a little. </p>
<p>Aaron walked to the window to look outside. There were no lights on in houses that generally didn't have them on, so that wasn't a help. Aaron hated that he couldn't just drop his shields and make sure that everyone in the neighborhood was who they were supposed to be. That would damage Spencer in ways that Aaron wasn't sure even he could recover from. Not with how tightly he was wound. They were more private than anyone else, and other than cursory use of his abilities, Aaron never used them outside of keeping Spencer grounded. If he did, he warned Spencer beforehand.</p>
<p>Spencer was with the kids, looking at them sleeping in the same bed with Jack wrapped around young Henry. Henry was doing a hell of a lot better than anyone would have ever thought he would be given how young he was. Outside of a few instances in the past, he was the youngest Sentinel to come online in their fully recorded history. Being with Jack a lot helped him, but being around Aaron and Spencer helped him a lot more. Will had gladly become the babysitter for both of them as much as he could. There was a friendly pair in the neighborhood who watched them the times that Jessica couldn't, but mostly it was Will and Jessica who watched them. </p>
<p>There was nothing quite like coming home to the feel of his own house, making him happy. He couldn't smell it like Spencer could, but it felt like home. </p>
<p>"Hey, you need sleep," Aaron said.</p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head and laid it back on Aaron's shoulder as Aaron stepped up behind him. He wrapped his Sentinel tight in his arms.</p>
<p>"I feel something coming," Spencer said.</p>
<p>"Okay."</p>
<p>"It's something that I can't put my finger on, and that camera is just the first bit."</p>
<p>"How did you know it was there?"</p>
<p>"There were strange scents. Since this area of the city is heavy on Sentinel and Guides living here, they don't allow substitutes that aren't known on mail routes and the like so that we don't freak out. Yet there was a scent that I didn't know at the door. There was no other reason, and so I pushed away all of my other senses until all that was left was the scent. Then when I found that, I went to sound, and I heard the small whine of the parts. It was part of the training that Garcia and I did to learn the sound of all various kinds of tech that could be hidden anywhere."</p>
<p>"Ah, hidden cameras so that you would know if we went into any place. If the UnSub is watching, we all need to be more careful."</p>
<p>"Exactly. It's not all that hard really, but from what I have read, there are those high-level Sentinels that still can't do it after more extensive training."</p>
<p>Aaron knew that Spencer was working on his own book that he was going to publish about how he trained himself. Aaron was pretty sure that Spencer did a lot of looking into the older methods of how Sentinels were trained before they were as known as they were. The ways that villages trained the people that were their protectors before the Sentinel found his or her Guide. Aaron figured that Spencer's results spoke for itself, but he knew that there were a few in the area who didn't like it. The higher-ups on the national scale loved watching Spencer to see what he was going to be doing. </p>
<p>The training that most Sentinels went through was closer to the military than anything else, and it didn't do well with a lot of Sentinels. Aaron couldn't see Spencer in the military. He was fit enough for it and could do that side, but it was not questioning. Hell, Spencer had questioned Aaron the first day that he had met him. When told to jump, Spencer didn't ask how high. He asked why jumping was better than just standing still. His brain wasn't wired for that kind of stuff. More than one trainer at the academy wanted to kill him before he was even a quarter of the way done with it. Aaron knew there was a doctor in California who had come out as a Sentinel after she had finished Medical school. Aaron figured that more and more like her and Spencer would come out. Sentinels were protectors, yes, but with the way that the world was now, protection didn't just mean who can kill the most efficiently. It was brains and the ability to think beyond point and kill. </p>
<p>Aaron didn't wonder if Spencer was the first of a new breed of Sentinels who were made to protect more than just the physical parts of the local tribe that formed around them. </p>
<p>"Ready for bed?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"Sure. Let me check on JJ and Will."</p>
<p>Aaron kissed the back of Spencer's neck and then stepped back from him. Everyone who slept in the house got at least one visual check a night on them. It was not the strangest thing that Spencer did either. Aaron knew that he woke every single time one of the kids made a noise. It was never a full awakening but enough to make sure they were fine. </p>
<p>Then there was the time six months ago when Garcia had a small fire in the apartment below hers and Spencer had forced her to stay with them while the apartment below was being worked on, which also needed part of her's fixed as the support beam below had been a little damaged. So while strange people needed access, she had stayed with them. Aaron hadn't minded it at all. Hell, he was more than happy to have Garcia with them as the kids had loved it. But Spencer had issues with the smell of burning anything. He had woke up at the same time that the fire had started to rage enough to set off the alarms in Garcia's building. When the call came in from Morgan ten minutes later as they were unsure if it was an attack or an accident. Spencer had nearly tried to run there himself. Spencer was more connected to his pack than Aaron had first thought. Hell Aaron wasn't sure what the limit was on Spencer's range on his checking on the team. </p>
<p>Aaron was also pretty sure that Spencer was banking on Aaron's sense of the team as well. It wasn't like Aaron couldn't understand how the Sentinel could do that. Spencer was tuned to him in ways that were strange. He knew the moment that something changed in Aaron's brain chemistry, he wasn't sure if it was the smell or the rush of blood through it. Spencer couldn't describe it, but if Aaron's small mental link toward the team had picked up n Garcia's fear, Spencer might have known that something was wrong but just not what it was. It could also be what was going on at that point in time. Aaron was picking up on something that his abilities hadn't figured out yet, and so he was not able to put his finger on it, so to speak.</p>
<p>The bedroom was cool like they liked it so that Spencer could cuddle under heavy blankets, helping to settle his body and his mind. Aaron stripped down to his underwear before slipping into bed. Spencer came in and worked on getting himself ready for bed. He left the door to the bedroom open after he put on a pair of sleep pants. He slipped into bed and burrow back into Aaron's arms. Spencer loved being held, and Aaron liked to indulge him when he could. Especially when they slept. </p>
<hr/>
<p>Aaron entered the bullpen to see that Spencer was typing away at the report for the case they had just got off of. If it wasn't for the way that his hands were going, the way that his eyes were focused at a point across the room would have had Aaron thinking that Spencer was in a zone out. Yet, his hands never stopped. He was obviously going over something in his head and typing it out.</p>
<p>"Hotch," the Director said as he walked up to him. </p>
<p>Aaron looked at the man to see that he wasn't happy. Aaron hoped that it wasn't something that his team had done. It was rare for the Director to visit the BAU unless they had done something really good. </p>
<p>"We can talk in your office, right?" the Director asked.</p>
<p>"Sure. Do we need my Sentinel?"</p>
<p>"No, at the moment." The Director looked over at where Spencer was still typing, looking at the point on the wall. "He's not zoned, is he?"</p>
<p>"No, he's not in a zone, but he's in the zone as Morgan likes to call it. He's probably writing up a file that will end up being able to be turned into enough to cover an SUV. He likes detailed reports, and they have just gotten worse since he came online. His ability to weave his abilities into what he knows means that the case file reads like a story from start to finish."</p>
<p>"Yes, I read the one from the case in Michigan. I was entertained in a way that I never thought I would be. It was damned factual though but not nearly as dry as some reports that long tend to become."</p>
<p>"Yes, well, I blame Jack for that. He likes to hear sanitized versions of what cases are like for bedtime stories. We are all knights, by the way. Henry soaks them up as well." </p>
<p>Aaron watched as Morgan stopped by Spencer's desk, picked up his coffee cup, and walked away. A minute later, he came back out with a fresh cup, milky in color. Morgan was afraid of sense spiking him. </p>
<p>"Thanks," Spencer said as he reached out to pick up the cup. Morgan just ruffled his hair with a laugh before he walked back to his own office with a cup of coffee.</p>
<p>"That normal?"</p>
<p>"The team mothering him? Yes. They will all check his coffee before they go and get more. I blame Anderson. He started it." Aaron waved for the Director to head into his office. </p>
<p>Aaron shut the door behind them, and he watched as the Director settled onto the couch. Aaron took the chair. He wasn't sure if this was going to be a good discussion or not. </p>
<p>"We have a small issue with that camera that your Spencer found at the house."</p>
<p>"Yeah?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"Yup. We can't trace a single part of it. It doesn't match any commercially made one that we have on file and matches no agency’s registered version. However, our techs were able to find a single thing about it, and it's not food."</p>
<p>"The signal from it is short enough that it has to be linked to someone close to the house?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"Yes. I'm not shocked that you figured that you. You are a smart man. So, what are we going to do about this?"</p>
<p>"You want me to make that decision?"</p>
<p>"You know your Spencer better than anyone else in the world. You two are attuned to each other in ways that I don't even see in pairs I've known for years and know they have been together longer. Though this whole team is like that."</p>
<p>"Well, JJ and Will practically live with us. Even if they sleep most days at their home with the kids sleeping at one house or another. Henry's good at letting Jack go for longer periods of time and schooling hasn't proven to be an issue. Jack's school is making sure that no one has access to him that shouldn't. There is no much we can do except for sweep for bugs."</p>
<p>"Have Spencer do it because that bug even when rebuilt and functioning, didn't trip any of the sensors that we use to sweep places. They are working on one that will so we will have that when the time comes. Also, the Sentinel we use to test that kind of stuff, couldn't find it either so maybe Spencer can teach them how he found it?"</p>
<p>"Sure." Aaron rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He knew that Spencer was more than likely listening to this. He didn't care all that much. If he was talking to someone that he didn't want or Spencer couldn't listen in on, he turned on the white noise generator. Spencer could go past it, but he didn't as he understood boundaries. Spencer would just listen to the beat of Aaron's heart to make sure he was fine if he was meeting someone that they didn't know. </p>
<p>"We aren't sure what the plan was, but the bug had not been there long, given what little weathering there was on it. Probably around the time you left for the case."</p>
<p>"What does the Center say about it?" Aaron asked. So far, everything with the official local channels that they had to move through was done through the FBI's liaison for the Center. Aaron wasn't that inclined to talk to people who pissed him off.</p>
<p>"They will look into rumors and people who speak of wanting to talk to him that are not them."</p>
<p>"Meaning that you think it was them that placed it."</p>
<p>"Yes. I'm not putting it past them. The local head of the branch wants to study Spencer, and we all know how much he hates that idea. He is stable, more stable than some Sentinels they release on their own so legally, they can't do a thing. They can watch him, though."</p>
<p>"Paranoia," Aaron whispered.</p>
<p>"Yes. Just a single false move and he could easily do something stupid that would get their hands on him legally. It would be easy for him to do that. He doesn't think like we do, even before he became a Sentinel. There is a small cancer in the Center, and while the upper levels are trying to find it, it's getting worse. I'm already making sure that the Director understands that any move made toward any agent of mine who also identifies as a Sentinel or a Guide will break everything between us. Most of the agents we have would choose us over them anyway given how much protection we give above and beyond what the Center does."</p>
<p>"I remember you talking before about how there was the rumor that the FBI was going to be taking over the Center to clean it out."</p>
<p>"That was a well-placed rumor that we started to see if it flushed anyone out, and it didn't. No one reacted outside of squashing the rumors." </p>
<p>"There is something else that you aren't telling us, and Spencer knows it. He doesn't know what it is."</p>
<p>"I can't release that at the moment, but I promise that as soon as I can, I will. I want your entire team carrying all the time. I want Garcia to stay with someone. Or someone staying with her. I've already gotten in contact with Detective LaMontagne's Captain, and when the team is on a case, he will be on duty caring for the kids. We are going to pay his money at that point in time. We already have an agent that I trust more than anything in the world in Jack's school, and a caretaker for Henry's daycare is being replaced with a high-level Guide who retired from her job to do this for me. She'll be well taken care of. There are those moving around you guys, and I don't like it.  If anyone tried to even touch a hair on those kids' heads, Spencer would rip the world down around them. I will not have the FBI lose him because people can't keep their noses where they belong. So don't chafe on the things I have going on around you all. I mean them with respect and to support your Sentinel."</p>
<p>The door opened up, and Spencer came into the room and shut the door. He gave the Director a smile before dropping down into Aaron's lap. His hands found skin on Aaron, and he stopped vibrating.</p>
<p>"Your Sentinel at the school teaching Gym was easy to figure out. I was told when a new teacher had started up after the previous had to leave due to his family out west needing him to help them deal with the loss of his brother's wife. The daycare has already told Will and JJ about the new Guide. I didn't worry about them because the people who told us felt that they were safe. I'll take whatever help I can get to protect my family. So you move how you want, and if you want to keep me uninformed, you can. I'll text you when I figure out another move you'd made, and you can figure out what you can do better next time."</p>
<p>"You can't just text the Director of the FBI."</p>
<p>"I can if he tells me that I can."</p>
<p>Aaron looked at the Director, but he saw that Spencer had his phone in hand, and then the Director's phone buzzed.</p>
<p>"See."</p>
<p>Aaron sighed and looked at the Director. </p>
<p>"I knew you would not keep me informed of things so that you weren't burdening me. He has no qualms on that. Now it's about lunchtime. Why don't you all go out to get something to eat at a restaurant. I know you all just got back from a case but get out of here for an hour or so. Relax a little. Let the team know what's going on."</p>
<p>"Yes, Sir." Aaron waited for Spencer to get off of his lap to try and stand up to shake the Director's hand. </p>
<p>"Get your team on the same page. I know that Garcia has never qualified for a gun, but just make sure she's not alone. Maybe get her a taser that she won't mind using. Protect them so that Spencer doesn't have to." </p>
<p>The Director left before Aaron could say anything else. He looked at Spencer, who was looking at his cell phone.</p>
<p>"What are you doing?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"I've gotten in contact with someone who works intelligence for one of the agencies we are allied with overseas. That's as much as he is willing to give me, but he says that he's a Sentinel, and he's been having a lot of eyes on him from people who are not supposed to have eyes on him. He came online much like I did, only not you know kids. I sent him images of the camera, and he's trying to see what he can find." </p>
<p>"And how trusting are you being?"</p>
<p>"Well, it was Prentiss who put me in contact with him. She can't tell me how she knows him, but she knew him before he came online and heard through friends that he was now a Sentinel. So unless I can't trust her, I don't know how I can."</p>
<p>"I see. So someone with Interpol or a connected agency. That sounds about right for a Sentinel like you. You talk to him about that, and I'll talk to a few other friends of mine."</p>
<p>"NSA?" Spencer asked as he looked up from his phone again with a grin.</p>
<p>Aaron narrowed his eyes at him. </p>
<p>"I knew that when we are having sex the first time. We were working on that one case and everyone was doubled up. I heard you in the bathroom and never told you that I had. I didn't want to get visited by some shady guy who smokes too much. I can keep my mouth shut when I need to." </p>
<p>Aaron sighed and then laughed. He waved for Spencer to head out of the office. Getting the team together for lunch was going to be easy. Aaron knew that things were going to be strange for a while. This was just one of the first opening moves that were going to be made against them. </p>
<p>Lunch was good, and even with them talking in the SUVs over the phone about the more sensitive information needed before heading inside, lunch was calm. It wasn't like Aaron figured that the team would be upset about it all. It was standard for when a few of the more notorious criminals the BAU had been putting away got out. The BAU had been around just long enough for some of the first criminals that had been put away by them were getting out if they hadn't got life or longer sentences. Back in the beginning, it wasn't always easy to get them to put in jail for long at all. The protocols were in place because at least that was something that Gideon, Ryan, and Dave had figured out when they had set it all up and were in their stride. Some of these guys were going to be getting out while the agents who put them there were still alive. </p>
<p>Arriving home, Aaron knew that Will had been told about his new way of working. </p>
<p>"I'm going on a run," Spencer said as soon as they were inside and he had stripped off his gun. It went into the safe, and then he pulled out the one that Aaron had given him after Spencer had used it to save their lives. </p>
<p>"Sure. Just stay close."</p>
<p>"Oh, I'm just going to go around the block until I feel better about everything. So if you don't see me for a few minutes, get a little worried." Spencer kissed the side of Aaron's face before he grabbed the back holster that Aaron had bought for when he went running and felt the need to carry. The gun would stay under Spencer's shirt but not be as noticeable unless one was looking for a gun. Spencer was the bigger deterrent, but for those who didn't know that he was a Sentinel, the gun would be the rest of the deterrent. </p>
<p>Aaron found that Will was now sitting at the kitchen table with a gun kit out. He was cleaning his service weapon. The sounds of Jack and Henry playing in the living room calmed Aaron down a lot. He reached out to Jack and brushed his senses over him. Jack pushed back in a clumsy way but better than he had been doing before. </p>
<p>"JJ and I are moving in for the next while. JJ said she's packing bags. I think that Jessica is getting her stuff together to move in as well."</p>
<p>Aaron nodded his head. He would rather his family was all here. It would help more with everything that was going on. He hated going into what he considered war footing. Aaron would rather do it now than after something else happened. It wasn't going to be easy to get things cleared up if they weren't sure who was coming after Spencer. </p>
<p>If Aaron actually knew what they wanted Spencer for, it would be easier. It was easy for cancer to grow anywhere. Hell, Aaron was shocked that more didn't grow in some organizations, even with Sentinels and Guides all around. </p>
<p>"Are they stupid?" Will asked.</p>
<p>"I have no clue what they think is going to happen, but the Director thinks that they are trying to make Spencer paranoid and get him to do something that would make them be able to take him into custody to retrain him or at least study him." </p>
<p>"Has Spencer showed you the research that he's been doing into Sentinels of old?"</p>
<p>"Back when we were barely more than cavemen?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"Not quite that old but when the world was in tribes more than anything else. There is an oral history that was transcribed in the tribes that lived here, all over every single one that said that Guides could tap into the mind of their Sentinels and watch as they were taken places and then they would follow behind using the visuals and them, and the rest of the hunters in the tribes would then slaughter those who thought they could steak the tribe's Sentinel."</p>
<p>"I have no heard that."</p>
<p>"The book is up in the office. You might want to check it out. Spencer's doing a bit of research into what he could get his hands on. There was a guy he was talking with who has sent him copies of books that aren't supposed to be out of tribal lands. I didn't ask, and he didn't offer his name. Though I did hear him talking about Captain America."</p>
<p>Aaron laughed and shook his head. He went up to the office and found the book that Will was talking about and then walked down to the kitchen again. He cleared a spot to sit and look through the book.</p>
<p>"John Blackwolf. We worked a case with him, and he and Spencer hit it off talking about tribal history, and then that devolved into them emailing back and forth a lot over the years. He stopped talking about him, so I assumed that they had stopped. Blackwolf and I protected a school together, and we got along well. He was damned good at what he did, despite the fact that he wasn't a Sentinel. I know that Spencer's got a lot of material from someone about training himself, and it's not shocking that it's probably been him. They are all very secretive about how they train their Sentinels, and I know that the Center would love to get their hands on materials like this."</p>
<p>"Oh, that just has oral histories, stories. The other things are locked on a digital tablet that Spencer said would blow up instead of letting anyone but him on it. I thought that he was kidding, but I have to assume that he wasn't."</p>
<p>"Yeah, no, he does have a tablet that's secure. I always assumed it was for work he did for the CIA, but who knows."</p>
<p>"You don't care?"</p>
<p>"That he's keeping things about his own training to himself? When it's shared in confidence from someone that I trust? Nope. We both have parts of what we do that need to be kept separate. I mean, I do work for a few other agencies, profiles, and such. Spencer does as well. We could even do them for the same. We have different lives, and that's okay."</p>
<p>Aaron looked at the book again and then out the window toward where he could see the front yard. Spencer was passing by just about the time that he would for a second lap around the block. </p>
<p>"How long will he do that?"</p>
<p>"Until he feels better or I call him in when dinner's ready. Meatloaf?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, it was the only thing that there was enough of for. I did baked potatoes as well. I made a list of food things for all of us and snagged the cash from the can in the cabinet for your guys' half." </p>
<p>"Good. Let me know if you need more."</p>
<p>Aaron looked up to see Spencer standing outside of the house, talking to a pair of cops in their car. He stood up and walked over to see what was going on, but Spencer was laughing as he stood there. He recognized two who had the beat in the area, and he had seen before. Everything was okay, it seemed. Which he was glad of. Aaron looked at the timer. There was half an hour left on the food, Spencer could get some good running in during that time. Getting himself settled again into the neighborhood but also just feeling how different it felt with the new things that were going on. Learning the new scents with the changing seasons. </p>
<p>This was another time that Aaron wondered just how Spencer would fare in the older times, the Sentinel that no one expected until Spencer was gutting them. It shouldn't be as thrilling as it was, but it was. </p>
<p>"Daddy, come watch mummies with me!" Jack yelled.</p>
<p>"Yeah, National Geographic all day long. Your turn." Will was smiling as he said it. </p>
<p>Aaron wasn't ashamed of the finger that he flipped at him. He snagged the book, though, and went to the living room to spend time with Jack and Henry. </p>
<hr/>
<p>Spencer stretched in bed and sighed before he started to get up. He could hear Aaron in the shower. He looked at the end of the bed where Aminta and Shadow were lying. They had been appearing more and more during the day, and Spencer knew it wasn't good. It had just been Aminta first, but then Shadow had started to come as well. He looked at the pair of them; Shadow curled around Aminta as a way of protection. Even their Spirit Animals were willing to go the distance and make everyone think that Aaron was a Sentinel when it was needed. Spencer smiled at the pair of them as he stood up to get ready for the day. He had showered before bed and wasn't interested in doing it again.</p>
<p>Breakfast was just going to be simple fare for the day as Spencer wasn't willing to make anything at all. He usually didn't feel like that, but his dreams were troubling, but even more, was that he couldn't remember them. He wasn't sure if he was visiting the spirit areas of the world while asleep, or he was just having run-of-the-mill nightmares. While those had decreased, even his brain couldn't always process it all away, and he still got a few when cases were terrible enough.</p>
<p>Aaron wrapped his arms around Spencer, rubbing his smooth cheek on Spencer's.</p>
<p>"Good morning," Aaron said.</p>
<p>"Morning. Coffee?"</p>
<p>"Tea." Aaron's tone said that he knew that Spencer hadn't been sleeping well at all that night and coffee was just going to make it worse. It was an old fight between them. Spencer, though, wasn't aiming for a fight that morning. He would rather just drink the tea that he already had going. </p>
<p>Aaron laughed when he pulled away from Spencer after another few minutes of cuddling. </p>
<p>"You do so love to rile me up with that," Aaron said.</p>
<p>"Yes, I do." Spencer knew that the team wasn't going to be giving him coffee right now, they were more interested in keeping Aaron happy and it wasn't like Spencer didn't like tea. He did. He just also sometimes missed coffee. He had taken a few drinks of Garcia's the other day. The taste had been enough to make him happy. Tea was becoming something in the house that was shared among all of them. There was a wide variety of herbals so that Jack and Henry could drink some. Will still drank a good bit of coffee and JJ her fair share as well but the smell didn't bother Spencer all that much or make him crave it. He would rather just drink tea unless he really needed the coffee. But it was still something fun to poke at Aaron with. It had been three weeks since Will, JJ, and Jessica had moved into the house. Three weeks of Spencer waiting for that moment where he was upset about his home being invaded but it hadn't happened yet. He was enjoying having them all there with him. It wasn't like the house wasn't big enough for them all to exist without bothering each other. The kids loved it, being together all the time but also having all of their favorite people around them all the time. </p>
<p>"Cereal?" Aaron asked as he opened the cabinet with the boxes of cereal for everyone who was there.</p>
<p>"Yeah. I don't just feel like cooking or waiting to eat. If the kids want something different I'm sure we can scrounge up something."</p>
<p>Aaron hummed and set about getting everything out. Jack and Henry ate the same thing, Henry liking to copy his Guide in that aspect. Henry's senses were mostly calm. It wasn't like there were a lot of things he was around that would upset him, but when it happened, Henry could make the world tremble with his anger. Still, it wasn't hard to keep him happy. </p>
<p>The arrival of Shadow and Aminta told Spencer that the kids were up, given that their Spirit Animals were hanging from the mouths of Aaron and Spencer's. Spencer shook his head at the sight of them, looking like chastised children as they hung there. Baron was making his displeasure known with little growls while Boone was just hanging in Aminta's mouth. Spencer still had no clue where the names had come from, but he wasn't shocked that Jack and Henry had named them starting with the same letter. For a while, Spencer had thought that Boone's name was Boo as it was about the best that Henry could manage until Jack had helped by saying the Red Panda's full name, and Henry had just nodded his head. It wasn't like the two of them weren't full of mischief, but it seemed that they had already been getting into it that morning if the other two had decided to play parent to them. </p>
<p>Shadow dropped Baron down onto the floor first, and the Maine Coon cat took off for the far side and jumped up onto the chair that was used for Jack to get access to the counter when there was an adult around. When Boone was let go, he rushed over to the chair as well. They curled around each other, glaring at the two older Spirit Animals who just ignored them now that they weren't in their charge. </p>
<p>Will came into the room laughing. Behind him were Jessica and JJ. Then behind them were Jack and Henry. Henry, who was pouting just about as badly as Boone was in the corner. </p>
<p>"What's up?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"The boys were trying to be sneaky and take their Spirit Animals to school in their bags like real pets. I guess it was Hen's idea," Will said. He looked at the two boys and just laughed again.</p>
<p>"Like they couldn't just summon them?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>JJ shrugged her shoulders. Spencer laughed and shook his head. He started to pass out bowls, and everyone grabbed the cereal that they wanted as well as what the boys would eat and started to get breakfast together. JJ and Jessica sat at the table with the boys while the guys all stood up to eat their breakfast. A bigger table in the kitchen was needed, hell a bigger kitchen would be needed for that as well. </p>
<p>Spencer knew that the house was going to feel empty when it was time for them all to go back to where they belonged. He smiled as he watched Henry pluck out a few bits of cereal and lay them on the table. They were dry, thankfully, and he started to make car noises while pushing them around. He was still eating, so he wasn't going to stop him. There was something so simple about this, about being together like a family that had Spencer wanting to keep this forever. He wondered if they could find a bigger house to move into the area, and then they could just never leave. It wasn't normal at all for today's society, but there were times in the past and still in some places in the world where families all lived in the same house all of their lives. He was enjoying this more than he thought that he would. </p>
<p>"Ready for work?" Aaron asked as he looked at Spencer and JJ.</p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head and looked at JJ, who just winked. </p>
<p>The boys got their goodbyes. Jessica would take Jack to school, and Will would take Henry to his daycare before he went to work. Jessica would pick them both up after she was done with work for the day. It was an easy routine to fall into, and it was only disrupted when the team went on a case, then Will was on guard duty. </p>
<p>Spencer rushed through his workday, finding more and more things to keep himself busy, including working on a few cases for the cold case team just to see if his brain could find something. He even spent three hours reading over some records for the white-collar crimes unit and getting the data pared down for them so that it wouldn't take days. He didn't really do that kind of thing often, but Aaron didn't mind if he was done with the rest of his work for the day, and Spencer was. He even had the things for the next three days done as far as reports and consults. That had taken him all morning. </p>
<p>"Reid?" Morgan asked.</p>
<p>Spencer could hear the word. He could hear his name, but he just couldn't figure out what he needed to do to respond. He was looking at a slip of paper that was on his desk, and then he frowned. The spell he had been under broke and Spencer looked at Morgan.</p>
<p>"Yeah?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"Sorry to interrupt you, but I wanted to know if you wanted me to start your afternoon tea," Morgan said. He pointed at Spencer's mug that was empty. </p>
<p>"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Spencer picked up his mug and handed it over to Morgan, who was looking worried. "It wasn't a zone out. I'm just...my senses are a little off today, and I keep having issues trying to process something that I can't figure out. It's nothing big. Aaron would know the second that I go into a full zone out."</p>
<p>"Okay," Morgan said. He clasped Spencer's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Spencer gave him a smile as he watched the man walk to go and get some coffee for himself and start the tea for Spencer. There was an on-demand hot water tap on the new coffee pot that Aaron had made sure the BAU got. The old one had an issue, and the water tasted funny to Spencer, and when it was opened up by the guy sent to service it, he had said that it was not cleaned on a routine time like it should have been. Aaron had just got a new one and made sure that the maintenance people checked every single one in the building and replaced the ones that were starting to grow mold on the inside like theirs. It had literally been the beginning stages, so no one had gotten sick yet. Only a few machines in the building had that issue, and it was that they were not on the list of ones to be cleaned. </p>
<p>The new machine was perfect, and the hot water tasted just fine for Spencer's teas now. Spencer enjoyed the flavors of tea that were picked out for him. Hell, most of the unit brought in ones from home that they had been given as presents or thought they might like but hadn't. Spencer found the ones that he liked, and the others were dropped in random offices around the building based on how well he liked the people who worked there or how much he didn't. </p>
<p>"How goes it?" Rossi asked as he stepped up to Spencer. </p>
<p>"Good. Just about done with all of the busywork that I could find for the day," Spencer said. </p>
<p>Rossi laughed and dropped a book down into Spencer's lap. Spencer looked at it. It was a Sudoku puzzle book, and then Rossi dropped a pen in his lap, a bright purple-colored pen. "Have fun!"</p>
<p>Spencer laughed as Rossi walked away. The book said that it was the hardest puzzles that there were in the world and that everyone who had already done them had been timed. Spencer typed on his computer to bring up the clock that kept things down to the milliseconds, and he flipped open to the first puzzle in the book. He marked down his start time on the spot on the page and started to go at it. He only looked up when he finished, marking the stop time before flipping to the next page and repeating the process. It was a hell of a lot of fun, and he worked through all of them in the book in half an hour, beating the quickest time on each one. </p>
<p>Rossi was there to collect the book and gave him a fiction book instead. </p>
<p>"What are you going to do with that?"</p>
<p>"My publisher asked me to have you do that. Something about how she knew you could do better. I guess the book's not been published yet, that's an ARC copy, though why it needs one of those, I have no clue."</p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head and looked at the book he had been given. It was a modern book, but the cover was very much, not modern at all. It looked like one of those bodice ripper books. Spencer laughed and leaned back in his chair to prop his feet up on the edge of his desk. He reached out for Aaron in the bond that they shared and found that Aaron was working on expense reports. The feedback he got from him during those was something that he never felt at any other point in time. Spencer had offered before to do them, but Aaron never took him up on that even if it would go faster, and Aaron would be less pissed off counting every single damned bullet that they used when hunting an UnSub. </p>
<p>The rest of the workday passed in a blur of Spencer reading trashy romance novels that made him laugh. Rossi kept on dropping them off to him because his publisher found it funny to send them to Spencer when one crossed her desk that she found funny as hell. Rossi stored them up for days when Spencer was too scatterbrained to stay on one project for long or days like today, where Spencer was working through too much. It was a lot of fun for Spencer. </p>
<p>"We are looking for Spencer Reid," a voice said as the doors when most of the teams in the BAU were getting ready to head home. JJ was sitting at her desk, playing on her phone a little while waiting for Aaron to finish up so they could all drive home. </p>
<p>"That's me," Spencer said. His desk was closest to Aaron's office, so the men were on the far side of the room compared to him.</p>
<p>"We need to speak with you."</p>
<p>"Who are you?" Spencer asked. He closed the book he was almost done with and let his feet drop from the desk down to the floor. The men were thankfully not stupid enough to move any further into the room without being invited. </p>
<p>"Specialist Dunne, and Roberts," the first man said. </p>
<p>Spencer had no clue who was who, but then he didn't care. They were two Guides. He could feel that.</p>
<p>"And you are with?" Morgan asked as he stepped out of the hall that led from his office. </p>
<p>"It doesn't matter to you," the first man said. </p>
<p>"Actually, it does as I'm one of the men in charge of Doctor Reid," Morgan said. He said the doctor with a hard bite to his tone. </p>
<p>"It's a Sentinel and Guide matter, so no, it doesn't pertain to you." </p>
<p>"And that means Jack shit when the Sentinel is part of the FBI. You are not allowed to question him on matters without his boss present, just in case you try and question something you have no reason to question. I'd pick me because his other boss? Even worse than me, and he's a lawyer."</p>
<p>"We are to question him without his Guide present," the first man said. </p>
<p>"Then I guess you get me. You are questioning him on FBI grounds, and he's still working. If you want to talk to him alone, I would wait until he gets home." Morgan crossed his arms and stared the men down. </p>
<p>"Dunne," the second man said. </p>
<p>"Fine. Is there a room we can talk without anyone listening in?"</p>
<p>"Sure. We have interrogation rooms that are set up for that. We can turn on white noise machines that discourage listening in. Doctor Reid is the only one who can hear above that and the soundproofing in the room." Morgan nodded toward the rooms that the BAU used for UnSubs and suspects, and he nodded.</p>
<p>Spencer looked at Aaron and gave him a smile before he tapped a drawer. Spencer waggled his eyebrows, and Aaron nodded. Spencer grabbed the wireless earwig that Spencer was testing out of some of the techs who supplied stuff to undercover agents. It was small enough that it shouldn't be seen at all, especially not by two Guides. Aaron settled himself in front of his computer in his office before Spencer was out of the bullpen. </p>
<p>"Testing," Spencer said as soon as he turned the microphone on. </p>
<p>"You are good," Aaron said. </p>
<p>Spencer saw that Morgan had then sitting at the side of the table that was closest to the door, the opposite of how it should be. Well, at least for what was going on. Spencer refused to be on the suspect side of things. He dropped into the seat and looked at the men.</p>
<p>"What's this about?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"There has been a complaint against you and how Sentinel LaMontagne and Guide Hotchner are being raised. You are the ranking Sentinel in the family, so it's down to you to explain what is going on."</p>
<p>"In what regards?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"You have moved three strange people into your house."</p>
<p>Spencer snorted and looked at Morgan. Morgan was looking at the men who were across from them like he was shocked; they knew how to breathe. Spencer rubbed at his nose before slipping his glasses back down on his face. The lenses did nothing except for helping to reduce eye strain from computers. He didn't need them to see, but in the field, it helped to sell that he was the Guide when they didn't want to deal with shit. Spencer sighed and looked at the men.</p>
<p>"Strange? Meaning what? You don't have names for them?"</p>
<p>"No, the Guide who gave us this case said that they were still researching that."</p>
<p>"I see, so you are being led around by your nose, and you don't even feel the fingers shoved up them. Do you have Sentinel LaMontagne's file there?"</p>
<p>"Yes." Roberts looked at Spencer with a  sneer. Spencer was used to that, people thinking that he shouldn't be what he was. Nature had picked him, and she had her reasons. Roberts opened up the file on Henry, and there was a picture of a happy family.</p>
<p>"Do you have images of the strangers that are living with me?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>Dunne tapped the file that he had. </p>
<p>"Good, open that up."</p>
<p>Dunne did and looked at the images of Henry with Will and JJ that were there. Roberts looked at the two files, and even Spencer could feel the shock through the room. </p>
<p>"Good, now that we have established that the two of the three strange people in my house are Sentinel LaMontagne's parents, do you have a file on Guide Hotchner, the youngest or eldest. Either would work." </p>
<p>Roberts opened that file up, and he looked down to see the profile that was there, which listed Jessica as his primary caregiver when his father wasn't there. </p>
<p>"So these three strange people are all biologically related to the Sentinel and Guide in question. Why would they need a reason to move in? Hotch and mine's work has been getting busier and busier, we are out of town more than we would like so instead of shuttling the boys back and forth between three different places, we decided that it might be nice to see how we all live together. Yes, Will and JJ live next door, but when Will watches them, he does so at our house, so it just seemed stupid to have us all in three places. So is there anything else?"</p>
<p>"No," Dunne said, and he closed the files in front of him and grabbed the ones from Roberts and did the same. Both men were pissed off. Morgan opened the door for them and waited until they were gone before he sat back down.</p>
<p>"Aaron?"</p>
<p>"Someone is playing a stupid game. That was meant as something other than what it was," Aaron said.</p>
<p>"Agreed. It was stupidly simple to show who they really were. They wanted something else from me, and they were pissed off that they didn't get it. So what do they want?"</p>
<p>"I think that they are trying to prove that you two are not fit to raise Jack. If they can prove that they can take Henry as well," Morgan said even though he could only hear Spencer's end of the conversation.</p>
<p>"Agreed," Aaron said.</p>
<p>"Aaron, go and see what the Director thinks and then let's get paperwork setting up Jack and Henry with someone else if we are ruled to be unfit."</p>
<p>"Dave?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"Sure, he's a Guide of good standing. Helps a few Sentinels when he can when they go into zone-outs. He's a rock star with every single agency that he works with. It would be hard to prove that he couldn't help with the kids and watch them while we are taken to court. That would stop whatever legal way the Center tries to get them. Our wishes will be respected until such a time that we are deemed unfit, and then Rossi would go through with it as well to prove he's good."</p>
<p>"They don't understand what they are doing, do they?" Morgan asked.</p>
<p>"Nope." Spencer stood up, pulling the earwig out. He was now pissed off, and his Aminta following behind him with hackles raised showed everyone who saw him that he was. </p>
<hr/>
<p>Spencer brought up the record listing online of everyone who was working at the DC Center. It was a smaller place than others around the country. The draw of politics to the area meant that not that many Sentinels and Guides settled into the area for the long term. It was something that Spencer found funny. He printed out that list as he worked on figuring out who each of these people was and finding who exactly wanted him destroyed. He couldn't disregard that it could be Aaron as well who was the target, but Spencer figured that it had to do with him and the fact that he didn't need the Center to be as settled as he was. There were a lot of people in the world who didn't like it when people were different than them. </p>
<p>The world looked at Sentinels and Guides as leaders to follow, and while most people didn't care how the Sentinel was trained, it was a point of contention between Centers across the country and the world even. The way that the United States trained their Sentinels was vastly different from the rest of the world. Spencer had learned all that he needed by listening to himself and doing what he felt was right for him. Everything that he had read from Blackwolf supported that this was the way that the old societies had trained their Sentinels as well. There was no need to tell a Sentinel how to kill; they knew the weakest points on a person already. There was no need to push until things were at a breaking point because that point didn't exist for most Sentinels if they had a Guide. </p>
<p>Spencer had a book that he was writing that was going to shock the Centers across the country. </p>
<p>The ringing of a phone pulled Spencer out of his mind as he looked at the file the FBI had on the Director of the Center.</p>
<p>"Doctor Reid," Spencer answered as he lifted the phone. </p>
<p>"You are going to cause issues from here to California, aren't you?" Joe Nutter asked.</p>
<p>"No, Sir, I'm not going to be the one causing it. I'm going to be the one dealing with the people who are causing it."</p>
<p>"Damn right, you are. What do you need?"</p>
<p>"How is your team doing, Sir?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"On their sit down for the next little while. They will be heading out again, why?"</p>
<p>"Well, there might be a few issues that have come up that will require a few people to be hidden from prying eyes if needed."</p>
<p>"You want to remove leverage from the field if it's needed. I see and who the fuck would be stupid enough to go after someone that a SEAL Team is protecting. Send me the files on the situation that you have at the moment, and we can deal with that from there. Who are the targets?"</p>
<p>"My Guide's child, and his aunt, as well as his Sentinel and his parents. The parents have the training and can wield weapons. One is a local detective, and the other is our Media Liaison. The aunt is not trained but won't freak out in a horrible situation. I have no clue what's going to happen, but we have a plan in place to get the kids placed with David Rossi as he's an online Guide who is well respected, but things are moving around enough that the Director of the FBI is worried and has us under a guard of sorts."</p>
<p>"Time frame?"</p>
<p>"The first volley was fired three days ago, and there has been nothing since. I figure that they are going to wait to let me get complacent."</p>
<p>"I have friends here in Little Creek who are well aware of how weird the DC office is and who is coming out of there. So you'll find protection here, and if I have to, I'll pull them onto the base and good luck getting anyone to agree to allow anyone to take someone that the SEALs have decided is worth protecting away from them." Nutter actually sounded pleased about that. He was probably going a little nuts with one of his best teams dragging ass at the base while one of them going under training after coming online in the field after their convoy had been attacked. The team, as a whole, took a stateside rotation rather than work without him. Thankfully his Guide had already been on the team, the Guide had been online for a while, and he knew that the soldier was his Sentinel from the moment they met. </p>
<p>Spencer had met with both Sentinel Rivera and his Guide Agnew when they had got back stateside. Spencer had been working with Nutter about his own training to make sure that he wasn't missing something. The SEALs training for Sentinels and their Guides if they made it through BUD/s was extensive, and Spencer had enjoyed learning about it. He was using some of it for training with Henry and Jack. Spencer had a lot of fun with Rivera and Agnew, and they were both kinda in awe after meeting Spencer. He trusted that they would protect the family if Spencer and Aaron weren't able to. </p>
<p>"Keep me informed. How are you sure you aren't bugged?"</p>
<p>"Work phone at the house. They would find themselves being sued and slapped with so much shit that the whole of the Center across the country would be fucked with," Spencer said. He looked up when Aaron entered the office with a grim look on his face. Spencer gave him a smile, and Aaron relaxed a little bit. </p>
<p>"Ah, yes, that would do it. Well, text when you can, and maybe when Rivera gets out of his training today, I can talk him and his Guide into heading to DC for the weekend, just to be safe. The whole team might follow."</p>
<p>Spencer laughed and said his goodbyes to Nutter.</p>
<p>"Everything okay on that end?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"Yup. We might get a few visitors this weekend, so just don't be shocked."</p>
<p>Aaron nodded and walked over to slip between Spencer and the desk, making Spencer roll back a little bit. Aaron pulled Spencer into a kiss; it was soft and gentle with no rush to turn it into anything else. Will was working while JJ and Jessica had the kids in the backyard. It was as calm as it was going to get for the afternoon on a Friday. The team had been all but shoved out of the bullpen by the other agents when Spencer couldn't sit still long enough to even take a drink of something. </p>
<p>"How are your levels?" Aaron asked, even though he could feel how each of them was. It was a way of checking to make sure that Spencer was aware of where his levels were.</p>
<p>"Good across the board. I have my hearing up to listen to the kids and the ladies, but that's it. They are having the time of their life." </p>
<p>"Yeah, I was watching them from the bedroom window for a little when I heard you were on the phone. So how soon do you think they are going to make a move?"</p>
<p>"I have no clue. They are either going to strike soon, or they are going to wait until I think they aren't going to strike and do it then. It depends on how stupid they really think that I am." </p>
<p>"And me. So not this weekend?"</p>
<p>"I have no clue. I can't see the play they are going to make so I can't make a decision. Half of me wants to send Jack, Henry, all of them into Little Creek right now. No one will touch them there, but it would leave us open to all kinds of attacks." </p>
<p>"What's stopping you?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"I don't know if it's the right move to make at the moment."</p>
<p>"Is that your brain or your Sentinel?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>Spencer tipped his head back and looked at Aaron as he thought about it. He closed his eyes and started to center himself. He felt Aaron starting to meditate as well. It wasn't the weirdest place that they had done something like that. It helped during cases, and Spencer had done it while Morgan had been driving him to a scene, and Aaron was at the station. Spencer started to think about it all. Everything and anything that was so small that it was almost insignificant. </p>
<p>"Brain," Spencer said a while later. He picked up the phone and hit redial. It didn't connect. </p>
<p>Spencer raised his eyebrows at Aaron and made a slashing motion with his hand. Aaron walked out of the room and went to the back of the house to get everyone inside. Whatever plan they were going to do, they were cutting them off starting now. </p>
<p>Grabbing the phone that was on the desk that wasn't wired at all to the house, Spencer dialed Nutter's number.</p>
<p>"So how about a road trip, and we meet between here and there?"</p>
<p>"What?" Nutter asked.</p>
<p>"The secure line has been cut."</p>
<p>"What are you calling on now?"</p>
<p>"Aaron's line that's only supposed to be used to contact the NSA when he's doing profiles for them.</p>
<p>"I'll get the team loaded, and we will drive. I know where you are talking about, and I'm sure that Agnew does as well. Five or four?"</p>
<p>"Four, but the fifth will make his way to you guys as soon as he can. Maybe two of your guys can head to get him?"</p>
<p>"Sure." Nutter hung up, and Spencer looked at his cell phone. There was no signal. The person pulling the strings who wanted him and Aaron out of play had made the mistake of thinking that they were not paranoid. No one who worked on the BAU didn't have some level of paranoia.</p>
<p>Spencer heard the door to the garage open from the backyard, and the kids were being strapped into the SUV that was inside. Jessica sounded calm while they talked to them. Spencer heard Aaron making his way down to the ground floor, but Spencer stayed where he was. He wasn't sure who was watching who, but he had plans to make sure that they were out of the garage. Aaron got into the driver's seat, and Spencer heard the large sunroof opening on the SUV being shoved open. Spencer smiled at that and moved to where he could jump out onto the roof. It had been a what-if discussion post-Foyet about the best way to get out of a house under siege, and it had been kind of great for the whole team to talk about. Some of the things were stupid as hell, but given the size of the sunroof on the SUVs that they were given were, it wasn't hard to want to use that as the easiest way to get into the SUV. </p>
<p>The SUV was put into gear just as the door on the garage opened up. Spencer opened the window, and he saw the house across the street and the woman who was watching while talking on her phone. They were going to be too late. Spencer had a good grip on his phone as he jumped out the window and then down onto the roof of the SUV before he slipped into the sunroof opening. He was in his seat and bulking in before Aaron was out of the driveway. </p>
<p>"Ha," JJ called out a minute and a half later as Spencer heard her phone connecting.</p>
<p>"LaMontagne," Will answered. His voice echoed around the silent SUV. </p>
<p>"Bug out," JJ said.</p>
<p>"Two of Nutter's team will be grabbing you," Spencer said loud enough for Will to hear on speakerphone.</p>
<p>"I'll stay here until they get me. Be safe."</p>
<p>When JJ hung up, Aaron pressed send on his phone, and Spencer reached out to tap it to speakerphone as soon as it connected.</p>
<p>"Yes?" The Director asked.</p>
<p>"The lines were cut except for my NSA phone. Reid and I are getting our family to safety, and then we will be heading back into Quantico. I'll let you know as soon as we are on our way there."</p>
<p>"Where are you taking them?"</p>
<p>"I'm not telling you that, Sir, until we are there. We are in the work SUV, and the GPS was disabled by Garcia two days ago. Will's at work, and he'll be taken to safety as soon as those who are getting him have him in hand." </p>
<p>Spencer's cell went off, and he looked down at the screen. It was from Nutter. It seemed that four members of the team were already in DC with the intention of seeing a game that night. They were going for Will now.</p>
<p>"Will's got a team of four headed for him. A few of our friends were already in town for a game. I'll make sure they get better seats at a later time." Spencer texted him back that he was happy that Will was going to be safe sooner rather than later. </p>
<p>"Let me know everything as soon as you can." the Director hung up the phone, and Spencer reached over to end the call as well. He heard Jessica and JJ shutting down their phones. Aaron and Spencer's couldn't be tracked as they were their work phones. Spencer lamented that his personal cell was probably going to be taken by the Center to figure out where they were, but none of the numbers were programmed into it outside of Bennington and Aaron's as his only contacts. There was also the number for the main phone line of the FBI, but that wasn't going to do any good. </p>
<p>"They didn't even give you time to calm down."</p>
<p>"Nope, whatever they want from us, they are more worried about me digging in. I just really didn't expect it to be that quick."</p>
<p>Spencer kept his eyes on the cars behind them and made sure that none of them were following them. The SUV was kept in the garage and was their only method of getting to and from work. It was on orders. Spencer had been more than happy with that. There should be no way for someone to get a tracker on it, but he still closed his eyes and listened to the SUV. He had learned the baseline of it after Garcia had removed the FBI standard tracker that was on it. There was nothing on the SUV.</p>
<p>"How are you boys doing?" Aaron asked as he looked in the rearview to look at them. The SUV had a third row of seats, and that was where JJ and Jessica were. </p>
<p>Spencer kept on darting his eyes around. He didn't settle until they were on the freeway that was going to take them to Little Creek. He would wait for Joe to text him that the team was on the way, and then he would tell Joe where to meet him. They were going to be getting a jump on the gun, so the middle point wasn't going to work anymore. </p>
<p>"Good, Daddy. Henry's a little upset, but being around Spencer is helping." </p>
<p>Spencer knew that Henry took his cues from Spencer to know how to act. If Spencer was calm, Henry was calm. If Spencer was around at all, Henry didn't feel the draw to protect at all. Spencer liked it as it meant that Henry felt safe with him. He did the same with Will when Will was around and even Aaron. It was the way that the Sentinel side of Henry protected himself since he was so damned young. Nature protected and provided. It made sure that Henry wasn't going to go insane before his body could actually do what it needed to do as a Sentinel. </p>
<p>The drive to Little Creek was usually around three and a half hours, but with taking a few weird roads in DC, the trip would have been closer to four hours. They weren't going all the way, though, so that would help them get back to Quantico quicker. Spencer was pretty sure that the team would all be assembled. </p>
<p>Spencer saw the Hummers that were waiting on them. Nutter was standing outside of one, on the phone while Agnew was on top of the one at the back of the grouping. His eyes were on the road where Spencer and his group were driving from. </p>
<p>"Who are these people?" Jessica asked.</p>
<p>"Friends," Spencer said. He got out of the SUV first and waved at Agnew, who pointed behind Spencer.</p>
<p>Spencer knew that meant that Rivera was somewhere behind them. Probably to loop around behind anyone who followed them. No one had as far as Spencer could tell, and if they were doing remote, there was no way they were going to take over the team. </p>
<p>"Clear," Rivera called from behind Spencer.</p>
<p>"Nothing?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"Nope. No one turned down the road. Torres is at the mouth of the road. We are safe." </p>
<p>Spencer nodded at Aaron, who got out and started to get Jack out from that side. Spencer turned to get Henry. </p>
<p>"Henry, Jack, this is Nick and Greg. They are going to take care of you and your mom, dad, and Aunt Jessica."</p>
<p>"Hi!" Jack said as he waved at Rivera as he got closer. Henry just cuddled into Spencer's arms tighter. </p>
<p>"Agent Hotchner, we promise that we will make sure that your family is safe. We've already got some quarters set up for them on the base."</p>
<p>"Flores just called, and someone was trying to gain access to Will's station," Agnew said as he finally jumped off of the top of the Hummer. </p>
<p>"And?"</p>
<p>"And Will was already gone. Flores had him in hand. Will's Chief called to tell Will that on his work phone. He's still going to dump it, and we are going to get him a secure phone to use to contact you all," Agnew smiled and reached out to give Henry a fist bump. The boy reached out and did it, laughing when Agnew made an explosion noise and opened up his hand. </p>
<p>"Alana is already on base getting things set up."</p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head. Alana was shared between Agnew and Rivera. Rivera had been married to Alana before meeting Agnew. Then things had gotten strange for a little while before they realized that Alana and Agnew got along well enough, and so when Rivera came online, it became a triad relationship, and they shared Alana just as much as they bonded with each other. It was one of the strangest relationships that Spencer had learned about, but as he had delved deeper into his own research, he found things like it before. When pairs who were same-sex found someone that they liked, loved enough to become a triad to push out the genes. It was eye-opening. Spencer had already written a chapter about them in his book, using different names for their sake. </p>
<p>"You guys going to be good?" Aaron asked as he stopped where Spencer was with Jack in his arms. Nutter was finishing up on his phone and walking over. </p>
<p>"Okay, I just got off the phone with the Admiral, and he's approved the team to work on this. There have already been a few people who have been sniffing around my SEALs and their relationship with Alana. So they are taking this as something that they need to be worried about. You guys go and make war and have fun, and we will sit here and make sure that it's safe. The Navy is not happy and will be pulling in a few others that they know of that have been watched. Little Creek might become a small standoff area. Thankfully, we are equipped for that, and we have enough SEALs to take on anyone who thinks they are smart enough to take us on."</p>
<p>Spencer nodded and turned to look at the men who were going to be protecting his family. He knew all of them well enough, and there were three Sentinel/Guide pairs on the team. It was going to be easy for them to protect whoever came here for protection.</p>
<p>"Feebs are sending more to us," Agnew said as he waved his phone. </p>
<p>"What do you mean?" Nutter asked.</p>
<p>"The FBI is pulling a few of their people and sending them to Little Creek. Direct order from the Director of the FBI that anyone who has unnatural attention from anyone in the hierarchy of the Sentinel and Guide Center is to report for duty and then allow themselves to be put into sequestering here in Little Creek."</p>
<p>"Yup, the SEALs are going to war," Nutter said. The grin on his face was feral, and Spencer kind of really liked it. "So, let's make plans." </p>
<hr/>
<p>Aaron wasn't sure what going back to work was going to feel like. They drove there like they usually did, and it was strange without JJ, but it was agreed that if something happened to her, they had no clue what Henry would do. JJ hadn't even fought it at all. They had daily calls from Little Creek set up, even if the team went on a case. And it seemed like they were going to be going on a case soon if the files that Aaron was looking at were showing him how bad this was getting in New York City. It was a set of files from a Sentinel there with twenty years on the force. Aaron didn't want to go, but they had to work like normal and see what was going to happen. It would also give them time to talk to the pair who ran the Center in New York. The Sentinel and Guide who worked the case had been in seclusion as of first thing this morning, so to talk to them about the case, they would have to visit them. </p>
<p>"Wheels up?" Spencer asked as he leaned in the doorway and gave him a grim smile.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I think that we are fully needed on this one. I've talked to the Captain, and he's going to let us use one of their media staff to help us with press releases. Normally, I would jump on doing that job, but I think you are going to need me to be a little more available."</p>
<p>"That bad?" Spencer asked as he uncrossed his arms and walked toward Aaron. He held out his hand, and Aaron laid the main file into his hand. It was a good summation of what was happening. The files had been dropped off by another FBI agent from the New York field office. He said that he had been told to not open it if he didn't want those memories burned into his brain. Spencer looked at the files, his eyes darting over them. </p>
<p>Aaron knew that Spencer had empathy, he was more empathic than anyone that he had ever met, but his ability to turn it on and off with ease had always set Aaron off a little. It should have been the first clue that he was a Sentinel. It was a trait that they were known for. Aaron had put it to Spencer's genius instead, just like everyone else who had ever met him had. Aaron wanted to question Gideon about it, but he also never wanted to talk to the man again. That ache inside of Spencer from the man leaving him with just a letter had hurt him more than anyone would have ever thought. Aaron could feel that echo every single time that Gideon's name was brought up, Aaron didn't want Spencer to ever smell Gideon on him, and he didn't want to have this conversation over a phone because Gideon was good at evading. </p>
<p>"Straight to the jet?" Spencer asked after he looked at the file a second time, going slower over the information provided to see if he made the same conclusions. </p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"I'll grab our things and head there now. I'll call JJ and let her know what is going on. I heard that we will have a JJ replacement there?"</p>
<p>"Yes. One of the force is on a sabbatical, and they have been working as the media liaison while they look for another one, and then he will train that person. He's doing a lot of therapy for a busted arm, and he wants to make sure that it heals up correctly so he can head back out into the field." </p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head and handed the file back before he turned on his heel to leave.</p>
<p>After the briefing that happened on the Jet, everyone was in their own little spaces while they worked on thinking about the case in their head. Setting themselves up for what was going to happen. The hole that JJ made in that was full of something akin to anger, but the team was handling it well. They didn't blame Spencer or Aaron for that at all. Garcia was at work, and she planned on sleeping on Aaron's couch or Dave's if she was feeling adventurous. She wasn't going to leave there for anything at all and was going to have an escort if, for some reason, she had to. </p>
<p>"JJ called last night," Morgan said as he dropped down into the seat across from Aaron. He looked at Spencer and smiled before looking back at Aaron. "You guys are going to have an issue getting Jack and Henry back from living there."</p>
<p>"Yes, JJ told me that they get up and do PT first thing in the morning with a few of the SEALs. That's quite the feat considering I can't get Jack out of bed most mornings for pancakes and he loves pancakes. </p>
<p>"Yeah, did she send the picture of them covered in mud from doing a training course with them?"</p>
<p>"Oh, you didn't get the video?" Aaron asked. He pulled up that video and handed over the phone. </p>
<p>Morgan laughed as the thirty-second video played of the boys going through the mud with razor wire above them. The SEALs were holding up the wire to make sure that it didn't actually get the boys, but they were verbally telling them when their butts got too high, though. </p>
<p>Henry was the first to make it through, it was easier with his smaller body. His reflexes honed a little from the Sentinel in him. He cheered Jack until he was free as well. </p>
<p>"That's kind of adorable." Morgan handed the phone back.</p>
<p>"Yeah, it really is. I guess they also play hide and seek with them? The problem is that they forget that their prey is a little smaller, and Spencer has taught them both good ways to hide their scent, like crawling into the trunk at the end of a bed. Or hiding in the communal showers underneath used towels. Henry has won nearly every time. It's for ten minutes. If they can hide for ten minutes, they win."</p>
<p>"So they have mascots that they are training like soldiers?" Morgan asked.</p>
<p>"Not so much, just keeping them entertained the only way that they know-how. If an exercise Nutter's team is working on is too much for them, they get shunted off somewhere else. The boys are frankly happy with so much to do, even if Jack misses school, and he has learned that SEAL school isn't fun at all."</p>
<p>"Hotch, we have a problem," Spencer said as he walked over to drop onto the couch. </p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"This is two different sets of people."</p>
<p>"Impossible, the prints." </p>
<p>"Are only found at three of the five sites. The two that don't are done by someone else."</p>
<p>"How can you tell that from this?" Aaron asked. </p>
<p>"It's subtle, but it's in the way the bodies are laid down. The three are facing east to west, and the other two are west to east. They might be working as a team, but they are not just one person."</p>
<p>Aaron picked up his set of files and looked at what Spencer was looking at. He laid out all of the pictures of the bodies to see that Spencer was right. It hadn't been noticed before because the pose of each one was precisely the same. It's something that Aaron hadn't noticed. It had probably been at the back of Spencer's mind since he had seen the images the first time, and it had come to him while doing something else. Spencer's brain was good like that.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Aaron looked at Spencer, who was nodding his head a little. This was the worst-case scenario and one that they had trained for, but still, it wasn't good. </p>
<p>"Aren't Sentinel's supposed to protect their Guides?" the UnSub said. </p>
<p>They hadn't been able to find a name for him, and the other UnSub was dead at Aaron's feet already. </p>
<p>"Yes," Spencer choked out with a grunt of pain. </p>
<p>Aaron almost laughed at the way that Spencer was playing the Guide to be pitied because he couldn't protect himself. The sound of running footsteps told Aaron that the team was right behind him. He felt the arrival of all three and smiled. </p>
<p>"Then why aren't you dropping your weapon?" The UnSub demanded as he lifted the blade from Spencer's neck. It was all the opening that Spencer needed. His hand shot up and grabbed the arm that was holding the knife while at the same time, he moved the rest of his body. In seconds, the UnSub was on the ground with Spencer pinning him down with his gun trained on him. </p>
<p>"Because I didn't tell my Guide that he could drop his weapon," Spencer said. </p>
<p>Aaron rushed over and kicked the knife away from where it had clattered to the ground. He grabbed the cuffs on the back of Spencer's belt and let Spencer get up before he rolled the UnSub over and cuffed him. </p>
<p>"You really shouldn't listen to stereotypes," Spencer said. He reached up and touched his throat, there was a small nick there.</p>
<p>"I've got it," Prentiss said as she held up a small medical kit. It was pocket-sized and something that they were used to carrying because of Spencer before he had become a Sentinel. He ended up with cuts and scrapes all over his limbs from crashing into things. He didn't do it anymore. </p>
<p>"The Sentinel running SWAT heard the cry of pain and then smelled blood. Not sure whose it was, so we came prepared." Prentiss stepped up and wiped at the cut with the edge of her sleeve before she smeared some cream over it and bandaged it. </p>
<p>Aaron felt the little bit of pain disappear. It had to be one of the ones with an analgesic in it. They had some strong ones in some of the kits, just to be safe for Aaron to not have to be in pain, and it would make Spencer upset while they were working. </p>
<p>"Well, you were right," Morgan said.</p>
<p>"Of course I was," Spencer answered with a small laugh. He looked down at the UnSub, who was sitting with his hands cuffed behind his back. The man was looking at him in shock. Spencer crouched in front of him. "It's a new age for humanity. Sentinels will always have a place protecting their tribe, but there are new ways that humanity needs protection. The ability to defeat a person in combat is not always the best way with what we have going on. I found you, didn't I? I found you because of who I am. I found you because my Sentinel abilities work a little differently. As you can see, I can still beat the shit out of people, but I also beat them with my brain." </p>
<p>Spencer stood up and looked at Morgan. He flicked his head toward the door, and Morgan came over to grab the UnSub and get him outside. Dave was over with the victim that had been taken. She wasn't nearly as freaked out as she had been, Dave's presence soothing her. </p>
<p>"Well, we found them," Prentiss said.</p>
<p>"Yup."</p>
<p>"Saved the newest victim."</p>
<p>"Yup."</p>
<p>"Why do I still feel like we are on a ledge."</p>
<p>"Because we are with everything back home. Now that the case is over, you are thinking about it." Spencer reached out as he spoke and laid his hand on her shoulder. Prentiss turned into him, taking the hug that he was offering to her. Aaron came up behind her and touched her shoulder as well. Spencer might not be the Guide, but he was the one that the team went to for comfort. It wasn't in Aaron to be that to anyone but Spencer and the kids. </p>
<p>The press was already swarming the area when they escorted the victim out. Aaron had pulled off his dress shirt and put his vest back on over his T-shirt to allow the victim's face to be covered up as they moved outside. She was put right into the ambulance and then taken away. </p>
<p>"That was a good move," Aaron heard someone say. He looked to see that the leader of SWAT was looking at Spencer as he said it. </p>
<p>"Thanks. Agent Morgan taught me all I know about that kind of stuff. Well, he tried for a long time, and then when I came online, it all just kind of clicked."</p>
<p>"I'd take ten of you in a heartbeat for the police force here."</p>
<p>"Yeah, we get that a lot." Spencer was smiling. </p>
<p>"Your Guide's a cold son of a bitch, but then he always was." </p>
<p>"I like him that way." </p>
<p>Aaron laughed as he finally recognized where he knew the SWAT guy from. He hadn't been the lead during the terrorist case in New York, but he had been there the whole time. That was probably why Spencer had trusted him as much as he did.</p>
<p>"You know when word came that it was the same BAU unit that was coming for that had come for the cluster fuck of a case a couple of years back and that they had a bonded pair, I expected to see someone else added. But it's still just you guys, and then the twig was the Sentinel. I wasn't as shocked as I should have been. It kind of makes sense. I mean Hotch is already a badass. He doesn't need to be even more badass." The man reached out and clasped Spencer on the shoulder. "Nature provides, right?"</p>
<p>"Yes, it does."</p>
<p>"Look. We've all heard the rumors of what is going on down in DC, but so far, nothing has been done that allows for the blowback to happen toward the Center there. We all know that it can't be anyone else, but that doesn't mean that we can get others to understand. You need something, call us."</p>
<p>"Sure thing."</p>
<p>Aaron knew that Spencer wasn't going to do that. Spencer wasn't going to involve anyone that he didn't already have involved. The SEAL team was a shock, but not really when Spencer had laid out to Aaron why he involved them. Agnew and Rivera were already involved and being hunted just like Spencer was. They had a lot more protection, and the Navy was unwilling to give up two SEALs when in their mind, there were better SEALs out there for the Center to concern themselves with. </p>
<p>The head of the New York Center was standing at the edge of the scene, beside a black SUV that had at least one other person inside of it. Aaron pushed out to catch Spencer's attention, and he looked at him. Aaron nodded his head toward the guests, and he gave a small nod. </p>
<p>A few minutes later, Spencer had extracted himself from the conversation and was walking toward the SUV. Aaron turned to join him, texting Morgan to head back and deal with everything. He caught Morgan's eye to make sure that man didn't freak out. Morgan looked at Spencer to see him shaking the head of the man. </p>
<p>Aaron waited for Spencer to open the door before he got into the back seat of the SUV. He slipped in after him. There was a driver that Aaron hadn't felt before, but now he did. A powerful Guide, it seemed. </p>
<p>"So, you are Sentinel Reid and Guide Hotchner?" the man who Aaron had felt before asked.</p>
<p>"Drop the creep," Spencer said.</p>
<p>The man laughed. </p>
<p>"Sentinel Alan Smith and my Guide Robert Cross."</p>
<p>"You know who we are, why are you here?"</p>
<p>"There have been troubling reports out of DC for a while, long before you came online, but the reports got worse and worse after that. The main hub is here in New York, but I don't run that. I don't want that shit show. I'm happy with my control of New York." Smith had a smile on his face that Aaron didn't like. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, it was that the smile wasn't a good one because he was pretty sure that he didn't like what was going to come out of the man's mouth.</p>
<p>"What exactly do you want me to do about that? I would never step up and run it, and my Guide would probably rather kill them all than deal with that kind of headache. He hates politics, and we are quite happy where we are."</p>
<p>"We want you to keep on going like you are. You've already sent your family away to protect them. Which is smart. There is no one short of the President that is going to get those SEALs to give up those kids. And the Center doesn't want that kind of attention. So we want you to be bait. We want you to do something that makes them take you into custody, and we want to see what they do."</p>
<p>"And what incentive do I have to trust that you will make sure I get out of it? I mean, it just seems like it would be easier for me to go away."</p>
<p>"And it really wouldn't. You are the seventh Sentinel like yourself to come online that we have been able to find. We have found through testing another thirty-three. More brains than brawn and nowhere near what anyone thinks a Sentinel would be like. The thing is that you are not the first in the DC area. There was another one twenty years ago. They went to the Center for testing and were found to be quite insane after coming online. They lived in a care facility before they ended up taking their own life after a single year there. The reports, though, were a mess, and it wasn't until someone started to dig that they found that he wasn't acting erratically before that. We want this to go down quietly. It's in everyone's best interests because a scandal would mean that no one trusts any of the Centers anymore. We have been systematically checking every single report since reports started to be made."</p>
<p>"That's a lot of reports," Aaron said.</p>
<p>"Yes, quite," Guide Cross said. It was the first time that he had spoken. </p>
<p>Aaron wondered if he was always like that, letting his Sentinel take control. He didn't seem to be one of the Guides who did everything that his Sentinel said. Lord knew Aaron would never be that way, but then neither would Spencer. </p>
<p>"I really hate politics," Spencer said.</p>
<p>"You've played this game long enough with the BAU to know that politics run DC. Someone somewhere had something on someone that blocks the main Center from taking them down. I really don't give a shit if it's torture porn, I want this gone. I want this kind of politics from the Centers as a whole. It's hurting the Sentinels, it's hurting the Guides. I don't even want to know how many unregistered we have in DC because of the whispers that we hear about things that happen there. Can you do it?" Cross asked.</p>
<p>"Sure. But it's going to cost you."</p>
<p>"What?" Smith asked.</p>
<p>"I want the Center to stay the hell away from me and mine. I want them to never breathe in my direction until I go there first. I will promise to get help if I end up needing it, but I refuse to do more than that."</p>
<p>"Young Sentinel LaMontagne is doing better than adult Sentinels who came online in better circumstances. You will be allowed to do as you wish as long as no one comes to harm."</p>
<p>Spencer looked at Aaron, and Aaron nodded. That they were going to have backing was the best of the situations they had been looking at. They would make it work. </p>
<hr/>
<p>Aaron didn't know how to feel after coming home from New York. It hadn't been long at all after getting the family to safety that they had been rushed to New York to deal with a case. The house felt empty, and to Aaron, it felt even more devoid with no one around to give off the feed that he was used to. Without Jack and his happiness and love that came off of him all the time. He only projected to Aaron as no one else ever felt him, but Aaron loved that feedback from his son. He got the same bleed off of Henry, and it was good to know how the little Sentinel was feeling at all times as it helped to keep him from having issues. He had a few zone-outs a day, but they were usually seconds long. Something new that he heard or seen. Jack would often have to touch him. </p>
<p>It wasn't normal at all for kids their age to be online, but nature provided, and neither of them was having too many issues. Most of that, Aaron knew was from Spencer and the way that he taught them everything that they needed to know. He didn't push them to learn anything that they "needed" to know by the standards of the Center. He went along with what felt right and what Jack and Henry were developing. Henry's sense of smell was the least active. It was a good thing because Aaron knew that smell was Spencer's worst to adapt to. He was more than happy to let them set the pace. He did enjoy entertaining Henry with scent games though that matched what level he was at. Which was usually the things in one room, and they were typically sweet treats because if there was one thing they had all learned was that Henry could smell chocolate better than anything else.</p>
<p>"Thanks," Spence said as he shut the front door before locking it tightly and setting the alarm. He entered the living room a minute later with bags of food and a set of chopsticks for Aaron and a fork for himself. He laid the bag down and handed Aaron the utensils before he went to get their drinks. Which was just water. It was late enough in the day that they didn't want anything that would keep them awake any longer than necessary.  </p>
<p>Aaron divided up the food and settled back on the couch, half laying back against it. Spencer settled into the same position at the other end with his feet over Aaron's. It was a position that they had done a lot their first time around in a relationship. It was good for when they wanted contact with each other but didn't want to be pressed against each other. </p>
<p>"They tried once. How long do you think it will be before another move is made?" Spencer asked when they were halfway through their food. </p>
<p>"Not long at all. They want you in custody and under their thumb as soon as possible."</p>
<p>"I've already had contact with the Director of the main Center for all of Nevada. She's the mom of a kid I went to school with. She told me the same thing that the guys in New York did. I really wish that we could get politics out of the Centers. There is no reason for it. The government already treats sentinels and Guides better than most Centers do. They are part of a historical relic that isn't needed anymore. There are enough Guides and even Sentinels across all parts of our workings that it would be hard to do anything that would hurt them. Anything that would push them into something that they didn't want, they could just stop doing it. We've already seen that soldiers would when they are told to do things that they don't like. At least with some government oversight, this kind of shit wouldn't happen."</p>
<p>"Or going to a board that runs each facility and it's a voted position by other boards. Like every place in Virginia is voted on by the other boards in the state. The head location is voted on by five boards of neighboring states. It's not all that hard. We are all looking at the Center like a place that needs to stand, but they haven't been needed like they are for decades. They are a relic of the past. Yes, we need training places, but that's all that it should be. Lawyers on hand to deal with issues that come from being a Sentinel or a Guide are pretty well covered by a lot of other law firms who have one or the other, sometimes even both on hand."</p>
<p>Spencer hummed in agreement as he speared a chunk of grilled chicken from his meal. Aaron was glad that they had found a place that was more than willing to make all of Spencer's meals with grilled chicken instead of breaded and deep-fried chicken. Unless the oil was new and hadn't been used at all, he could taste the old food that had been fried in it, like the egg rolls, and won-tons and things like that. It made for something that he couldn't stand. It was something that a lot of smaller places didn't like to do. Custom orders slowed the process down, and Aaron could understand it, but it's also why they didn't get food from there unless Spencer wanted shrimp. </p>
<p>Aaron leaned up to snag a chunk of the chicken coated in the sauce before popping it into his mouth without dripping that sauce on the couch. Spencer would bitch until the smell was gone, and it would get Henry to do it as well. It was part of why eating didn't happen where there was anything but hardwood floors, but they were both too exhausted to sit up at the kitchen or dining room tables. It was just easier to eat in here. Aaron laughed as Spencer reached over and speared out a shrimp from his meal. He grinned as he ate it. </p>
<p>Spencer was as happy as he was going to get with everything going on. </p>
<p>They were silent as they finished up the rest of the meal and then cleaned up before heading to bed. Aaron went upstairs while Spencer prowled around the basement as well as the first floor. He wouldn't rest unless he checked every single window and door in the place. When he was done with the first floor, Aaron could feel him getting closer. He checked all of the rooms on the second floor as well before ending the bedroom and checking it over. </p>
<p>Aaron was in bed already by that point and ready for whatever Spencer needed from him. He wasn't sure if sex was something that he needed or not. It was hit and miss. Sometimes he needed that feeling of furthering the bond, and sometimes it was just holding Aaron close. When Spencer stripped naked and crawled into bed, pulling the covers down to where they bunched at the foot of the bed, Aaron knew precisely what Spencer wanted. He was more than willing to give it to him as well. He reached out for the lube as Spencer crawled up the bed to him. He wasn't all that shocked when Spencer wanted him up and pressed against the headboard. </p>
<p>Spencer kissed him. It was such a hard kiss that Aaron was pretty sure that Spencer's and his lips were going to be bruised by the end of it. He didn't care all that much, though, as he opened up the lube and coated a few fingers before snapping the lid shut and dropping it at his hip. He reached up with his free hand and kept Spencer pressed against his lips as he pushed the first finger inside of him. Spencer moaned, and his mouth dropped open. Aaron loved Spencer like this, wanting pleasure no matter the form. It was damned good, feeling the waves of pleasure that Spencer got from just having Aaron's fingers inside of him. Aaron loved it when they had sex, no matter who was giving and who was receiving, but the pleasure that Spencer got from Aaron taking care of him like this was something that Aaron just loved. </p>
<p>It didn't take long at all for Aaron to go from one finger to three, but he kept on teasing Spencer with that. Aaron loved feeling the way that Spencer clenched on his fingers but also love the naked want that he was putting off from not getting Aaron's cock. If he kept it up long enough, Spencer would beg. </p>
<p>Aaron remembered the paper that had gone around in the early part of the decade that would have seen a same-sex Sentinel couple with the Sentinel taking a cock, meaning that they weren’t actually a Sentinel. It had been shot down in the worst way, and the man who had put it out had been laughed out of everywhere that was anywhere remotely academic. Aaron knew the thought behind it as it was still alive in some small pockets of humans across the world. Men weren't men if they were taking it up the ass. Yet, for someone like Spencer, this was what they loved. It really didn't matter which way they had sex, but Aaron liked to take care of him every once in a while like this. </p>
<p>"I will hold you down and ride you if you don't fuck me," Spencer hissed as he broke the kiss to stare at Aaron's face. </p>
<p>Aaron laughed and pulled his fingers out. He grabbed the T-shirt that was by the side of the bed, he had left it there for this reason before he helped Spencer center himself and push down onto his cock. Spencer fully seated himself and pulled Aaron back into a kiss. It felt damned good, Spencer rocking just a little on his cock while his body adjusted to having it inside of him. It was times like this that reminded Aaron of when they had got together the first time. When they were meeting to fill their want of lust. The feelings came after and then the fear. Then the break-up and before Aaron had been able to fully realize how much of a mistake breaking up all was, their lives had gone to hell because of Foyet. Then it was just a short time later that Spencer had come online, and everything had changed. </p>
<p>Wrapping his arm around Spencer's waist, Aaron helped Spencer keep the rhythm that Aaron liked best. It wasn't hard and heavy but slow and just wonderful. Time lost all meaning as Spencer rocked himself on Aaron's cock. It felt damned good. Aaron wanted this to last forever, but that wasn't possible, and he knew it. </p>
<p>Spencer came first, his mental orgasm washing over Aaron and pulling him along in its wake. The kiss didn't stop, even as they both panted. Their lips stayed connected as their bodies came down from orgasm. Aaron kept his arms wrapped around Spencer's back while Spencer's were around Aaron's neck. They breathed in the same air until Aaron forced Spencer to break the kiss, it wouldn't be long before Spencer's skin started to itch from the release all over him. Spencer let out a whine as Aaron poked at him until he moved, letting Aaron's cock finally slip from him.</p>
<p>"Go get the water started, and I'll get the bedding changed before joining you. If you are good, I might just let you hold me against the wall and rut into me until you come again." </p>
<p>Spencer growled at him at the imagery in his head and moved toward the bathroom. Aaron watched him go, a smile on his face. Spencer wasn't nearly as tense as he had been. Which was good because it meant he was a few steps away from snapping again. It was going to be hard to keep Spencer on an even keel at the moment, but he would do what he could. Getting him to work and where he could work out aggression was the best thing. He just hoped that Morgan had enough planned to keep him at the Academy for the afternoons. Or they would have a pacing Sentinel in the bullpen, and that never worked out well for other people getting their work done. </p>
<p>Aaron hoped that it was just days that this was all over. Any longer and Aaron wasn't sure what kind of person Spencer was going to become.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Aaron looked at the car that was waiting outside of the Hoover building in DC. He was there for a few meetings. He had driven his car into DC proper while Spencer had driven him and Morgan to Quantico for work for the day. Aaron had rearranged all of his monthly meetings to where he could do them all on the same day in DC. He hoped that a move would be made since they were separated, but so far, everything in Quantico was calm. Aaron just hadn't realized that he was going to be the target. Spencer's reaction to Aaron being shot was on record with even the Center, and Aaron figured that whoever had sent these people to collect him was stupid as hell. </p>
<p>"Aaron?" Strauss asked.</p>
<p>"It's fine. We knew that something was going to happen, we were just figuring that they would go after Spencer and contain him. That's why he went in with Morgan today."</p>
<p>"Your Spencer has been getting tenser and tenser. He worked over the SWAT team enough yesterday that they said they didn't want to play with him anymore, and you know that they love to play with him."</p>
<p>Aaron snorted because they did. They let him do what he wanted in scenarios for training, and he always made sure that they had to think to get the situation ended in a good way. It kept them on their toes, and it was what they wanted. It went to hand-to-hand combat on occasion. So far, Spencer had been keeping everything contained enough to where they weren't even able to snipe him. Aaron figured that it wouldn't be all that long before they had learned all that they could from him to add to the books to teach other SWAT members coming out of there. Aaron loved how much Spencer was able to impart to the Academy, it meant that when the day came that Aaron couldn't be in the field anymore and he was forced into Strauss' position, Spencer could at least be content at the Academy. It was at least a goal for their life. </p>
<p>"Yes, well, I guess this is the next step."</p>
<p>"You can stay in here. You are more than stubborn enough to outlast them. Or we can get you in another vehicle."</p>
<p>"No. This needs to end. They are stalking FBI agents, and they can't be touched as it stands right now."</p>
<p>"Agent Hotchner," a voice called out behind him. </p>
<p>Aaron turned around to see an unknown lady standing there. </p>
<p>"I have those earpieces that you asked for. The newest model for Sentinels. Smallest and the ones that can be turned off and on from a remote."</p>
<p>"Good. Thank you." Aaron held out his hand, and she walked over to him to drop them there. It was the main reason why he was there that day. He was supposed to pick them up without making it seem like it was what he was doing. He slipped one into his ear and pushed it all the way in. It was supposed to be all but invisible when pushed in. He slipped the second into his pocket. If it got lost, it got lost, but he would have a spare that he hoped that wasn't found.</p>
<p>"Call the Director as soon as I leave. He knows what to do." </p>
<p>"You got it. And Spencer?" </p>
<p>"Let them make a move. I'm sure that they will as soon as I am in the car with them. They deserve whatever they get." </p>
<p>Strauss gave Aaron a feral smile, and he remembered why he was glad that she had stayed on and changed. She was lethal when she wanted to be, he was just glad that it was turned on him anymore.</p>
<p>Aaron took off his gun and his credentials and handed them to Strauss before he thought for a moment and handed over his phones as well. He didn't want the Center having them at all. It was also better to have him seen as unarmed when he went to them, at least for the public eye. He looked at her with a smile. "Though if it's leaked to the press that I was taken into custody to control my Sentinel who has done nothing wrong, I'm sure it won't go wrong. I think that JJ has been working on a whole press release about this."</p>
<p>"I'll get in contact with Agent Jareau. Don't do anything stupid."</p>
<p>"I won't. I'll save that for my Sentinel." Aaron looked outside again and the Sentinel, who was waiting for him while leaning against the car. The mundanes around them were giving them a bit of space. </p>
<p>"Escort?"</p>
<p>"Nope. I want them to know that I don't fear them."</p>
<p>"Your Spencer is going to be pissed at the fact that you are going this without telling him."</p>
<p>"I don't want to rob the Center of the chance of Spencer getting there before me. It's going to be epic, and they are not going to be ready for this. I'm sure that most of the people there have no clue what is happening. They are innocent of this, but they will be able to give details that no one else can. It's best if we have a true reaction to it all." </p>
<p>"As you wish, Aaron," Strauss said.</p>
<p>Aaron turned to leave the room. He took the elevator, and he made sure that no one was around him as he let his shield thin a little and he sent a warning to Spencer. He knew that Spencer would know that it meant that the move had been made, but Aaron was truthful that he wanted everyone around them to be able to tell that Spencer didn't go feral when he was taken. This was as much about optics as it was anything else. If Spencer did go off the rails, they would have no case to make against the Center. </p>
<p>The Sentinel at the car was shocked when Aaron came out alone and was headed right for him. He stood up and looked around, looking for Spencer Aaron was pretty sure. It was quite entertaining to Aaron to see the man freaking out as much as a Sentinel would in public over the fear of Aaron's Sentinel. That told him that he was being pressured into this. The man's Guide stepped out of the passenger door of the car, and she looked ready to try and defend. Aaron just walked up the car and slipped into the back seat and buckled his belt. He could feel how shocked both of them were, and he laughed to himself. </p>
<p>"I'm shocked you are coming in like this," the Sentinel said as he slipped into the front seat.</p>
<p>"Why? The Center wants to make this a spectacle that they can use to detain us. If I don't do what they want, they will show their hand in a way that won't be good for them."</p>
<p>"Oh, thank God," the Sentinel said.</p>
<p>"Don't worry, you won't be part of the spectacle. It will just be the people who deserve it. You are doing your job, and I bet there is a clause that you have to do what you are told in the contract you signed, but you never thought that this would be what it was."</p>
<p>"Yes," the Guide said.</p>
<p>"Let's just get this going. I'm sure that you texted someone that you have me. They will be calling Spencer soon, I bet, and then the fun will begin."</p>
<p>"I met him, you know. At one of the times that they tried to take the kids from school. I never once got near the kids, and someone else did. It took no time at all for him to put the other Sentinel on the ground. It was spectacular to me. He did it without hurting him all but kept him restrained easily."</p>
<p>"That's my Sentinel and I'll be glad when this is done, and I can stop living with a Sentinel and just live with the man I love." </p>
<hr/>
<p>Spencer felt the echo of Aaron reaching out to him. He knew what it meant. He knew that the Center had made their move. He looked across the bullpen to where Rossi was talking to Morgan as they drank a little bit of coffee.</p>
<p>Morgan looked up, and Spencer nodded. Morgan shook his head. He tapped Rossi on the shoulder and pointed at Spencer. Rossi looked almost gleeful at that. Spencer could understand it.</p>
<p>Spencer picked up his desk phone and called JJ's burner number.</p>
<p>"Hello?" JJ said.</p>
<p>"Hello, Aaron's been taken. I haven't got formal notification of what happened, but he tapped me over our bond."</p>
<p>"Well, I'll make sure Nutter locks us down. We've had a few people driving around the main opening according to security. You worry about you. We are fine here. We might even spend the day watching the SEALs train in the mock fights. No one will get near us. Henry screamed in laughter last night when he was playing with Jack, two dozen SEALs were on their way to him before they realized he was just having a lot of fun. You are doing what you need to do to protect us, Spence. We can't ask for more."</p>
<p>"I know. And I can't fight a war on divided fronts. Text me if anything happens. Jack's tapped into his father a lot, so anything could happen. Henry will react to that."</p>
<p>"I will. Love you."</p>
<p>"Love you too," Spencer said before he hung up the phone. He sighed and rubbed at his nose. He dropped the glasses off of his face. He didn't need them at the moment, he wasn't going to get a lick of computer work done, and he knew it. He wanted to be right where he was, but he also wanted to go and beat on a heavy bag until he felt better. He knew that he wasn't going to.</p>
<p>"How about we all work on tactical plans?" Morgan asked.</p>
<p>"Sure," Spencer said. He grabbed a few files on cases that were not heightened enough to be a full BAU case but were triggering Spencer's want to help. He had taken them from Aaron's desk after Aaron had talked about them. Prentiss and Anderson grabbed items from their desks, and all three of them wandered up to the round table room while Morgan and Rossi walked to their offices to grab things.</p>
<p>The team was half an hour into tactical plans when Spencer's cell phone rang. He held up his hand, and the team dropped silent. He reached out and accepted the call as well as putting it on speaker.</p>
<p>"Sentinel Reid. This is Ashley Hale with the DC Center," the man said on the other end.</p>
<p>Spencer knew that Hale was the head of Guides for the Center, his Sentinel was the head of the Alphas. The pair of them were two people that Spencer hated more than anyone else in the world. They both made him uncomfortable.</p>
<p>"How can I help you? If this is something that you need the FBI's help you, you need the Sentinel and Guide department here. If you have a case that you need BAU to help with, you need to contact Erin Strauss, our Section Chief."</p>
<p>"Don't play games with me, Sentinel Reid."</p>
<p>"I am not playing games. I play games with my step-son and his Sentinel. Sometimes with my Guide. There are proper procedures that are in place for the handling of Sentinel or Guide assets that works for the FBI. If this is personal, then you need to tell me what's going on."</p>
<p>There were a few seconds of silence where Spencer knew that he had pissed off the Guide. It was a lot of fun to do.</p>
<p>"Your Guide," Hale started, and the way that he said Guide made it seem like he didn't think that Aaron deserved the term, or Spencer didn't deserve one. He wasn't sure about that. Rossi's eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline with that. "Has been taken into protective custody following the disappearance of his son and his son's Sentinel."</p>
<p>"Disappearance? They haven't disappeared. Their school and daycare know exactly where they are. Sentinel LaMontagne is with his parents on a vacation of sorts, and they agreed to take Jack along with them."</p>
<p>"We have started a file and have sent two Sentinel and Guide pairs to find them and bring them back from wherever you had hidden them away."</p>
<p>"On what grounds?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"You are not fit to have a Guide nor have two younger ones under your care."</p>
<p>"There was no court ruling on that. I've not been into a courtroom in a little while. Never for a personal matter, so you had better be handing over paperwork to the FBI today on why you are hunting the children of two of their agents."</p>
<p>"We don't have to do a damned thing like that."</p>
<p>"Actually, you do. All cases that involve the family of an FBI agent from an outside agency, especially one that is not criminal nor from another federal agency, have to be reported to them. It's what was agreed upon when the Center was formed decades ago. You also had better release my Guide as I know he did not go to you for protection. That's kidnapping a Federal agent."</p>
<p>"He came willingly."</p>
<p>"Really? He came into your offices?"</p>
<p>There was a few seconds of silence there.</p>
<p>"I know where my Guide was all day, Guide Hale. It wouldn't take but seconds for my analyst to find out how he left the Hoover building. Our security is fully open to us."</p>
<p>"He went willingly into the car we had sent to the Hoover building."</p>
<p>"You had sent. I see. So he didn't ask someone to come and get him. How long were they outside of the building?"</p>
<p>"Since he arrived." Hale sounded like he was spitting out the words through clenched teeth.</p>
<p>"I see. So him going willingly into the car of the pair who was stalking him so that he didn't start a scene or get someone else hurt is full of consent?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"Report to the Center for detainment and retraining now, Sentinel Reid." Hale hung up the phone.</p>
<p>Spencer looked at Rossi.</p>
<p>"I'll get a hold of Erin and make sure that the Director is aware."</p>
<p>"Garcia?" Spencer called out.</p>
<p>"I have it all recorded like you want, Boy Genius. I'm sending it along to Strauss and the Director now. Are you going to do it?" Garcia sounded worried.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, I am. The Director wants to make sure that the heads of the Center hang themselves. He's already working on talking to the President about emergency directives to take over the Centers. They have remained a civilian agency for a while now, but I think that oversight is needed. The Director wants to make each state responsible for themselves. That way, no one can scream about the Federal Government making an army of Sentinel and Guides to take over the country. This might just be what is needed to get that going."</p>
<p>"They think that no one is going to care about a single set of Sentinel and Guide. That's how they have been doing this," Prentiss said.</p>
<p>"That's what we figure, yes. It's going to take a Federal task force to unravel everything that this and other centers have done. While there is no overhead Center above all of them, they default to this one since it's based in the Capital. So I'm going to leave my gun and credentials here with you, Rossi."</p>
<p>"Be safe."</p>
<p>"Oh, I'm sure that there is someone at the edge of the base who is waiting to take me in. If they hurt me in any fashion, Aaron will know. We have a plan. No, let me correct that. We have plans within plans."</p>
<p>Spencer pushed away from the table and accepted hugs from the team before he handed Rossi his gun and credentials. He looked at his phone and handed it over as well. "My work phone is at my desk."</p>
<p>"You need anything at all, you make sure they let you call someone."</p>
<p>"Oh, they won't let me call. They are probably going to make it seem like I can't live without being under their thumb. The Director has seventeen cases. The family never asks because it's laid out to them that they are a danger. They show them Sentinels, who go feral protecting what is theirs. They show that and then tell them that it could be turned on them. I'm the only one who has a Guide, so they had to play around until I did something. Sending the kids away to protect them is the opposite of what a Feral Sentinel would do. If I had gone feral, I would have locked them in a basement and never let them out."</p>
<p>"So they are going for child endangerment with you sending them to live with SEALs?" Prentiss asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah, scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren't they?" Morgan asked.</p>
<p>"They really are."</p>
<p>"This is going to backlash on them horribly. It's going to be something that everyone will cry out about. This is beyond the pale," Rossi said.</p>
<p>Spencer nodded his head. He was done talking, and Spencer was sure that the rest of them knew it as well. He walked out into the bullpen and smiled at the few other agents who were in there. This was a family, even if they were on different teams, it was a family, and it was unlike any other family that Spencer had ever seen.</p>
<p>"I'll drive you," one of the guards just inside the building said when Spencer got to the doors. He nodded at Jones and allowed him to walk out. There was an SUV already waiting there. Spencer got into the front and waited. He knew that whoever was going to be waiting on him was going to be ready to fight him. "You get 'em, Doc."</p>
<p>"I will," Spencer said as the SUV was started, and they headed toward the main gate. There was indeed a Sedan waiting on them. It was caged like he was a perp. Spencer just shook his head at that, it was like they were wanting to piss him off. All it was doing was making him more determined to not do a damned thing.</p>
<p>A second car pulled up, and two Sentinels got out, their guns were drawn.</p>
<p>"Out of the vehicle, Sentinel Reid. Then your bodyguard is going to turn around and drive away."</p>
<p>"Doc?" Jones asked.</p>
<p>"You can do what they say. Stay at the gate, though, and make sure you hear everything that is said."</p>
<p>"Sure." Jones grinned and unlocked the doors.</p>
<p>Spencer got out of the SUV and walked over to the middle distance between the two sets of vehicles. He heard Jones backing up but stayed right on Quantico land.</p>
<p>"On your knees, hands behind your head."</p>
<p>Spencer dropped down and crossed his feet behind him before laying his hands behind his head. He saw the Guide getting out of the Sedan and kept the smile to himself as he saw the tranq gun in his hand. The cameras at the gate were pointed right at him, and this was going to get leaked out. It was going to ruin the reputation of this Center, but they would get it back. It might be shaky for the American people to trust them, and Sentinels and Guides that emerged after this were going to be hesitant, but Spencer would make sure to support whatever came out after as long as they were fair and just.</p>
<p>There was a few seconds of nothing before one of the Sentinels from the second car stepped up behind him. He felt the hand on his hands and a foot across where his ankles were crossed. Then the prick of pain in his neck.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Spencer didn't move as his senses came back online. He could smell that the room he was in had perfect filters. He couldn't smell anything but himself in the room. He could, however, hear the people that were in the room watching him. He laid there listening.</p>
<p>"He'll be asleep another two hours with the dose that we gave him," Hale said.</p>
<p>"I don't trust him as far as you could throw him, Ash. He's not normal." Steven Brooks was someone that Spencer knew was an old-school kind of man. If one ignored the fact that his Guide was a male. There was no proof that they bonded fully with sex, but then neither of them ever talked about their personal lives.</p>
<p>"That is the highest dose, and it's always worked on every other Sentinel that we have used it on. Let's go and get lunch. Guide Hotchner is resting calmly in the cell we have him in. He's not freaked out once, even when his supposed Sentinel went down. As soon as we can break whatever hold Reid has on him, we will have enough to put him away in our cells for the rest of his life, and we can make sure that Guide Hotchner is taken care of."</p>
<p>"It's unseemly, the way that they hide who they are just to make things easier. No true Sentinel would be able to do that. I still don't understand how a Guide can masquerade as a Sentinel and fool everyone in the FBI," Brooks said.</p>
<p>Spencer wondered what kind of fucking idiot Brooks was and what kind of blackmail he had on someone that would keep him in this place. Spencer knew that he just had to wait it out to figure out what they were going to do with him.</p>
<p>The hiss of something into the room made Spencer nearly stop breathing, but he forced his body to keep up the same rhythms. It was the scent of urine from some animal. Spencer hadn't smelled it before, so he wasn't sure of exactly what it was. Still, he settled in and waited to see what was going to happen next. The blaring of a drum and then the rapid-fire of a machine gun was next. The lights flashed, and Spencer could barely make it out behind his eyes. </p>
<p>Spencer didn’t react. He knew what Brooks wanted. He knew about the whispers that have made it outside of even the hallowed halls of the BAU. Those who couldn’t keep their mouths shut. About how Spencer could hear things that other Sentinels can't. He knew that Brooks wanted to catch him out on this. He was not going to let them. </p>
<p>Sinking down into the bond, Spencer could feel Aaron touching him. It wasn't sexual, but something that was meant to calm him down. Make sure that he's settled into himself so that he didn’t dent the door and escape through the room. Making sure that the Center won't want to let him go, and it would be the end of their plans. </p>
<p>Aaron wasn't worried, Spencer could feel that in the bond. He was more than content to be where he was. They were probably coddling him, though. Making sure that he had everything that he needed or wanted. Outside of Spencer. Spencer sunk further down into the bond and found that Aaron was reading a book. Spencer pushed until he could understand the words that Aaron was reading. </p>
<p>It was at least a good way to pass the time. </p>
<p>Spencer figured that at least two hours went by, but he didn't try and lift out of his connection with Aaron. He loved the feel of being joined with Aaron in such a way. It was something that was in the books that he had gotten off of Blackwolf, and it was something that was used a lot by tribes to protect themselves. He didn't want to leave it, but when he heard the door to his room open up, he knew that he needed to. </p>
<p>"Sentinel Reid," Hale said. </p>
<p>Spencer didn't react at first, slowly pulling away from Aaron to make it seem like he was waking up. He was more than content to just drift like that. </p>
<p>The door slammed, and Spencer opened his eyes, looking for a threat, but it was just Hale slamming the door. It opened right back up on the other side, and Brooks stepped into the room.</p>
<p>"Guide Hale, Sentinel Brooks."</p>
<p>"How are you feeling?"</p>
<p>"Well rested. Thanks for the nap. I see I'm in a holding cell and not a standard room."</p>
<p>"Threats against the tribe will not be allowed to just wander around this place or threaten anyone," Brooks said. </p>
<p>"When have I threatened anyone?" Spencer asked. He sat up on the bed, putting his back into the corner, making sure that his pose was soft and gentle. He didn't figure there was a single camera in here. If they didn't record it, it couldn't be used against them, and it would be his word against theirs. </p>
<p>"You being loose in public is a threat to everyone. You are working with the BAU and the Guide you have that is trapped in a relationship with you. I still don't understand how you did it, how you made everyone think you are a Sentinel. We will get those kids back and make sure that you haven't abused them in any fashion." </p>
<p>"Ah, so you still haven't found them. Good. You won't touch them."</p>
<p>"They have to come out of hiding at some point. Someone is going to care about them missing."</p>
<p>"The only people who would are family and they know where they are and why. The Director of the FBI personally called each of their family members who don't live around and explained what was going on."</p>
<p>"Why?"</p>
<p>"So that if they found out that you had gotten your hands on them, they would start to raise Cain about it all. I make damned good plans. I've had years of learning from Aaron, David Rossi, and Derek Morgan to thank for that. I wouldn’t be half the Sentinel I could be if it hadn't been for them."</p>
<p>"David Rossi is a Guide. What could he teach you that would help you be a Sentinel?"</p>
<p>"How to be a good Agent, that's what. To think before I act and to get every single little bit of information that is needed before making a decision. Sometimes that happens in seconds with my brain, but it does happen. They all taught me different things to be a good agent, and then it just kept on growing as I learned more even after I came online. There is nothing that you need to prove about me as far as being or not being a Sentinel. I am one, and that's all that matters. You need to let me and my Guide go and stop looking for Jack and Henry before you lose everything that you hold dear."</p>
<p>"Is that a threat?" Brooks asked.</p>
<p>"Nope. Not at all. Did you think the Director of the FBI was going to let you take the Sentinel from his best team? That Aaron would let me go with you telling him that I'm bad for him? You don't understand the love or the ties that bind my team and me. We would die for each other, and nothing is going to keep me from them or them from making sure that I make it out of here. My badge and gun were left with the BAU as well as my work phone. I gave myself up and gave you just enough rope to hang yourself with. By now, there is a newscaster with footage of you taking into custody and knocking out an unarmed Federal Agent. Sentinel or not, unless someone is actively aggressive, there is no law that allows you to knock them out. I wasn't fighting at all. So you go ahead and make your plans and see what happens."</p>
<p>"You are not a Sentinel. I'll prove it."</p>
<p>"Good luck with that." Spencer watched as the pair left the room. He was kind of looking forward to this. </p>
<hr/>
<p>Spencer was lying on the bed when three security men entered the room. He looked at them and frowned as he saw that they were armed with tranqs as well as stun guns. He sighed and sat up, holding his hands out to allow them to cuff him. The cuffs would deliver a shock as well if he got too worked up. Spencer wondered what they thought about him. His circumstances.</p>
<p>There were no words as he was escorted out of his cell and into an interrogation room. Aaron was there and was across the room, cupping the sides of Spencer's face as soon as he was close enough to. It shocked the guards, and Spencer knew it would take a few seconds for them to do anything to get them apart.</p>
<p>Aaron said nothing, but he leaned his forehead against Spencer's, and then one of his hands was slipping something into his ear. Spencer didn't hear anything, but he trusted that Aaron wouldn't be doing it with something that would hurt him.</p>
<p>"Enough," one of the guards said and jerked Spencer back. Aaron's hand shot out, and Spencer felt something in his hand. He closed his fist over it to hide it. He nodded his head.</p>
<p>Spencer was manhandled over toward the table and dropped into a seat where his feet were shackled in. Aaron sat down beside him and glared at the guard who started to move him. Spencer could feel the charge in the room from it. Aaron was pushing him away.</p>
<p>"Stand down," Brooks said as he entered the room.</p>
<p>"Clear your throat if you are fine," the Director said in Spencer's ear. Spencer did so.</p>
<p>"Good. Good. We are in position outside, and as soon as anything is said that makes it feel like my agents are in danger, I will move in. I have a team that is made up of Sentinels and Guides, for the most part, ready to take action. You have been in there for two days. Nutter's team is taking point, and we will follow along behind them. Nutter is keeping the kids and the rest of your family safe at Quantico. They decided to move them when the team came up here. Morgan and the team are there as well, Morgan felt that it was better if they were protecting your family in this case instead of going after you. They trust that Nutter's team will protect you."</p>
<p>Spencer said nothing. He just looked at Brooks.</p>
<p>"Guide Hotchner, how are you sure you are a Guide?"</p>
<p>"How am I sure I'm a Guide? I came online, and I'm a Guide. It's not like sexuality where you might change that as you age up from bisexual to gay or from purely Asexual to Demi. I am a Guide; there is no middle ground."</p>
<p>"How are you sure that Doctor Reid is a Sentinel?" Hale asked.</p>
<p>"Because he feels exactly like what a Sentinel should feel like."</p>
<p>"You and he started a relationship as soon as he came online. You don't find that odd?" Brooks asked.</p>
<p>"No, not really, and no, we didn't start a relationship as soon as he came online. We picked one back up. We had a relationship for a while that we both were loathed to give up, but given the laws of the FBI and everything, we gave it up. If I had known that he had the markers for being a Sentinel, I would never have given him up. He has them, by the way. I've seen the paperwork done by the FBI on it. He's not duping me. In fact, I think that he's a better Sentinel than you are, Brooks. I mean, he's not a fucking bully who thinks that he can do what he wants to someone who doesn't fit a very narrow profile of what you think a Sentinel is. It's thinking like this that has kept this country back in what's close to a dark age."</p>
<p>"You will speak with respect to me."</p>
<p>"I will speak with respect to someone who deserves respect, and you don't."</p>
<p>Spencer wanted to laugh, but he kept that to himself. He didn't need to push things too far too quickly. Brooks and Hale both looked to be hanging on by a thread to their composure. It was very, very precarious.</p>
<p>"You are both going to be held here until you realize that you are not a pair. I don't understand how the FBI allows this to happen. You could be so much more, Guide Hotchner when not held down by a Sentinel who hides behind you when out in the field."</p>
<p>"Do you know why he does that?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>Spencer heard rustling on the other end. He had a feeling that soon the FBI and the SEALs were going to be storming the place. He wasn't even sure that he wanted to know how the Director of the FBI for the okay for SEALs to act on American soil, but he was happy about it.</p>
<p>"Why does the coward hide?" Hale asked.</p>
<p>"Because it's not about him. It's about the people that we are going to save from the hands of monsters. So many cops hold the same ideals that you do that they push and push until Spencer has to show them that he's a Sentinel. We don't have the time for that macho bullshit. We've nearly not caught the UnSub because the cops don't think that he has the right to call shots. That he's not man enough to do it. Yeah, we win in the end, but how many times does it need to happen? How many victims need to be hurt more because we are fighting not only the UnSubs but the people who are supposed to protect and serve. There are times for pushing things into their faces to make them see that they are wrong, but while we are working, a case is not it. I will not have my pride or my team's pride come above saving someone, and that's the difference between Spencer and you. He doesn't give a shit about his pride when it comes to saving someone's life."</p>
<p>Hale and Brooks both looked like they were on the verge of going apoplectic on them. Spencer turned his hands inward and started to use what Aaron had given him to pick the lock on his cuffs. He wasn't sure if he could or not, but it was at least better than just sitting here like a duck. He was pretty sure that he could break the ones on his feet with little issue. He looked at Aaron out of the corner of his eye, and he wondered if the two men in front of them knew how close Aaron was to knocking their asses out.</p>
<p>"Sir, we have teams moving on the Center," one of the guards outside the door said.</p>
<p>"What? Who are they?" Brooks demanded.</p>
<p>"It looks like SEALs, Sir."</p>
<p>"SEALs, that can't be right. Get rid of them. They have no right to act on us."</p>
<p>"Actually, Sir," another guard said. He stepped into where Spencer could see him. "News just broke that all Sentinel and Guide centers are to stand down and give over control to the FBI agents who arrive to take over while we are being assessed."</p>
<p>"Who gave that order?"</p>
<p>"The President, Sir. The press conference just ended. I was on my way to tell you on orders from Virginia Center Head."</p>
<p>"I refuse. Lock this place down." Brooks looked at Aaron and stepped forward. "You couldn't just leave things alone, could you? You want to what make us all into fucking cowards like you? Like your Sentinel? Destroy his mind."</p>
<p>Hale stepped forward toward where Aaron was, and Spencer stood up, punching out his freed hand. Hale stepped right into the punch that he didn't see coming and dropped like a rock. Spencer snarled at Brooks before he stepped in front of Aaron.</p>
<p>"I'm not the coward, and I have never been accused of being weak before. I fight the battles that are best for me to fight, and Spencer takes the ones that he's best at." Aaron laid a hand on Spencer's shoulder to help keep him stable. Aaron wasn't afraid of him going feral, but at least at the touch of him, Spencer would know that Aaron supported him.</p>
<p>Spencer could feel how much Aaron loved him in that single touch. He looked at Brooks, waiting for the man to make a move. He did. He reached out like he was trying to bypass Spencer and go for Aaron. Before he made it even a little bit of the way, his body spasmed, and he dropped down. The guard had the stun gun held out, and he was frowning.</p>
<p>"I don't disobey a good order to fulfill the wrong one. Agents, you are free to go. Please stop the SEAL team from doing any more damage. They are rampaging through here to get to you. We will stay here with these guys and make sure that they stay under guard. Let the rest of the guards know. As far as we know, only the corrupt ones should be doing anything."</p>
<p>"Aaron, in front of me," Spencer said. He was hanging on by a thread on not going out of control, and Aaron behind him wasn't going to work.</p>
<p>"Would you like a gun, Sirs?" the guard asked.</p>
<p>"No, thanks. We've got this."</p>
<p>"Agnew and Rivera are almost to you. Put the guards into the room and shut the door," the Director said.</p>
<p>"We have orders to put you into this room and shut the door," Spencer said.</p>
<p>"Orders from who?" one of the guards asked.</p>
<p>"Our Director." Aaron pulled out the earpiece and showed it off before putting it back in.</p>
<p>"Shit, he heard all of that?"</p>
<p>"Yes, everything that has been said to me since I was brought in here two days ago has been heard. The passive tech that our analysts have been working on. It's pretty nice, isn't it? Now, are you going to fight us?"</p>
<p>"No, Sir." The guards stepped back into the room, giving Brooks a shove with a foot when there wasn't room for them by the door.</p>
<p>"You kill them if they make it impossible for you to stay in here with them," Aaron said.</p>
<p>"Yes, Sir."</p>
<p>"Your lives are not more important than theirs," Spencer said. He looked down at them. "I want to see them in jail for what they did, but I would rather see you alive."</p>
<p>"Yes, Sir," all three said.</p>
<p>Spencer shut the door and watched as Aaron crouched down and worked on unlocking the cuffs on Spencer's ankles. "I smell."</p>
<p>"You do, but then I didn't figure that they wanted to let out of the room that they had you in. We can deal with that later."</p>
<p>"I have a rash under my clothing. I need to get the outer layers off, at least. They kept the room cold, and I needed to stay warm."</p>
<p>"Sure," Aaron said as he stood up. He started to help Spencer strip down to nothing but his undershirt on his upper body. </p>
<p>"I'll make sure you are allowed to shower before leaving the facility," the Director said in Spencer's ear.</p>
<p>"That's strange to get used to," Spencer said. He was trying to lighten the mood. They had no clue what was waiting for them as they went up to the upper floors. Who was on the side of the Sentinels and Guides and who answered to the two men who were unconscious in the outer room. </p>
<p>The first hallway that they got to was empty. </p>
<p>"How far down are we?" Spencer asked. He couldn't tell because each floor was mostly soundproofed from the one above and below, so he heard nothing of the fight that was going on above them.</p>
<p>"I have no clue. Everyone feels distant, but they have since I got here."</p>
<p>"My best estimate is seven floors under the basement, and the basement is two floors. It could be more. Those sub-levels are not on any blueprint for the Center. We are making sure that the other teams start to look for ones like that as well. I think that the time of no interference in the way that Centers are run is long over. Holy shit, we are finding too much that I don't like. So your team is going to be working on this for a long time. You two are going to be the heads who make sure that guidelines are in place that will protect everyone, even people who go feral and kill half of a town."</p>
<p>"Yes, Sir," Aaron answered for both of them. </p>
<p>Spencer grabbed the back of Aaron's shirt and tugged him back. An elevator had just opened up. He didn't like that. He tugged Aaron back behind him, and Aaron went willingly. Spencer was kind of regretting not taking the offer of a gun, but at the moment, he didn't want to deal with the sound of it or the smell. </p>
<p>"Guards have not radioed in since the last one went down. Expect hostiles with free-range." The voice was not one that Spencer knew. He could hear just two heartbeats. If it wasn't for the fact that Brooks and Hale seriously underestimated him, Spencer would be pissed off at just sending two guards. They really didn't think that he could be a good Sentinel. He was a Sentinel no matter what they thought. </p>
<p>Spencer turned and looked into the room that he was closest to. There was a man in there in a straight jacket, and he looked like he was drugged to the gills. Someone who probably didn't fit the idea of what they thought was a good Sentinel or Guide. There was going to be a lot of blowback from this. It was going to be shaky for a long time on dealing with everyone trusting whatever new Sentinel and Guide Center came out of this. Spencer wasn't sure what to expect on that.</p>
<p>"Are we splitting up?" the second person asked.</p>
<p>"No. That's not going to help us at all. It will be better if we stay together. You've never taken on a feral Sentinel before. It's going to be over quick once we hit him with the dart, but he can do a lot of damage in that time."</p>
<p>Spencer looked for something to use to deflect the tranq darts that it seemed they were carrying. At least so far, they weren't going for the kill. He found a fire extinguisher and grabbed it out of its hole in the wall. The pin was slipped into a pocket on Aaron's shirt, and Spencer got ready to attack the men who were coming toward them. They were at least fifteen feet away from him, so he just waited at the corner. One of them would come in and look the other way before looking the way that Spencer was, it was tactics that Spencer knew well. Unless they were badly trained, which given who they worked for, they really could be. </p>
<p>The barrel of a gun was the first thing that Spencer saw he readied the extinguisher and angled it to where it was going to go right into the fact of the man in front of him. He pressed it down, and when he heard the muttering of the man who had been sprayed, he rotated and cracked the other guy in the head. They were at least good at the tactical side but not used to dealing with someone who knew the tactics. </p>
<p>Spencer heard Aaron getting the first man into cuffs before removing all objects from him. </p>
<p>"How many are headed down here?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"Fuck you."</p>
<p>"You are ignoring the direct order of the President of the United States, Son. You will be going to jail for a long time. So the best you can do is cooperate with me. Now, how many?" Aaron asked again.</p>
<p>Spencer set about cuffing the man he had knocked out to the pipe that was on the wall. He stripped him of everything that he had. The guns were left in a pile, and Spencer took the stun gun with him. Anything else was going to be too noisy for him right now. With his skin the way that it was, he was nearing a zone out quickly. The only thing keeping him going at the moment was that he needed to make sure that Aaron got out. He needed to have Aaron in the hands of Agnew and Rivera before he went into his zone-out.</p>
<p>There was a sound that took Spencer a few seconds to figure out. It was strange, and it wasn't until it cut off that he realized it was a hot water heater. He turned that way and found a small set of showers. The few cleaning supplies that were in there were for Sentinels.</p>
<p>"Sir, I'm taking the ear out and leaving Aaron as a guard while I shower. I'm getting closer and closer to a zone out with my skin the way that it is and my smell. I need to focus on other things."</p>
<p>"You got it. Take care." </p>
<p>Spencer plucked the piece out, and he got into the shower. He stripped off while the water warmed up, and he kept his ears out on Aaron standing in the door. </p>
<p>"They did not have key-cards on them, so I assume that they were sent down and can't go back up unless the radio someone to send the elevator down. The Director says that Rivera and Agnew are still in the full basement of the facility fighting though a lot of idiots who are following the orders of the two idiots we have under guard."</p>
<p>"We are dealing with fanatics. I have no clue how they built so many fanatics, but they did." Spencer ducked under the water as he finally got fully naked and started to lather up the soap that was there. He worked on his head first and then kept on working downward. Aaron stayed silent, which was good. Spencer was focused on the feel of his skin, making sure that he didn't miss anything. </p>
<p>"Director wants to know if they fed you?" Aaron asked.</p>
<p>"No. Water, yes, but food was a no."</p>
<p>"Okay, he'll have food on hand for everyone as well as you." </p>
<p>Spencer lost himself in getting clean again until he heard beyond Aaron the elevator doors opening again. The elevator itself was quiet, didn't make a single sound until the doors were open. Spencer grabbed the stun gun and took off running to where the noise was coming from. Aaron made a noise before following behind him. Just as Spencer got near where the elevator was, there was the sound of gunfire, and then Spencer was lost in the sound echoing around them. </p>
<p>As soon as Spencer froze where he was, his legs giving out, Aaron knew he was in a zone out before the feeling of nothing hit him. He rushed forward. He had heard the sound of the guns going off and knew it had to be what sent Spencer into his zone out, but that didn't mean that whoever was coming was friendly. He grabbed Spencer and pulled him into a small room that had no door on it. It was better than nothing and better than being caught in the open, getting Spencer to a different room. Aaron grabbed the stun gun and made sure that it was ready for him to use. He felt two people moving toward them, slowly. He wondered if they were friendly right about the same time that they stopped outside of the room. </p>
<p>Aaron readied himself to attack when he heard the safety being switched on two different guns, and then they were shoved into the room skidding across the floor. It meant they were weaponless but not unarmed. If they were a pair, neither of them were unarmed. </p>
<p>"Hotch, Reid?" A voice called out. It was one that Aaron knew he had heard before but not one that he knew well at all. He frowned and waited to see what was going to happen next.</p>
<p>"He's out," another voice said. </p>
<p>"Fuck. Okay. Shit." The first voice sounded a little freaked out. "He'd kill us if we stepped in there."</p>
<p>"No shit," the second said. </p>
<p>Aaron closed his eyes and laughed. It was Agnew and Rivera. They probably would rather deal with a feral Spencer than with him protecting a zoned-out Spencer. </p>
<p>"Come in," Aaron said. </p>
<p>Both of the SEALs stepped into the room with their hands up. Rivera came in first with Agnew behind him by a step but also putting his whole body behind Rivera when he stopped a foot into the room. </p>
<p>"You two are a sight for sore eyes."</p>
<p>"The guns did it, didn't they?" Agnew asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah. The shower helped him with that sense, but he's been too long without me right there and too many other things. They left his room cold, and they assaulted him with sounds and lights, trying to put him into a zone out. Spencer was stubborn and refused to do that, so they thought even more that he's not a Sentinel. No shower since he got here either. Though I am sure, you can see it was the first thing he did when he found one."</p>
<p>"Yeah, the nakedness is proof." Agnew stepped around Aaron and tossed a small bag at him. It was one of those kinds of bags that weren't sturdy at all but good for when one was running. Aaron used one for some of the kid's things. This exact one at that. Aaron opened it up, and instead of toys inside were clothes for Spencer and Aaron. Simple pants and T-shirts but better than nothing and theirs. "We will step out so you can get changed as well. Or we can lead you to the shower, and you can do that."</p>
<p>"Please. I trust you guys with him. He's pushed too deep into the zone out at the moment. I can pull him out, but I want his mind to rest a little before I do."</p>
<p>"Hey, it's your show. Do you need help getting him to where the shower is?"</p>
<p>"No. Just take the clothes. I'm sure you can follow the scent of the shower to where it is."</p>
<p>"Sure thing," Rivera said. He reached down and grabbed the guns, and handed one to Agnew before slinging the other over his shoulder. </p>
<p>Aaron followed them to the shower, and he left Spencer in the cubicle with him while he cleaned himself off. Having every other scent off of him would help when Spencer was pulled from the zone out. Aaron wanted to get to a base before doing that. He really didn't want to have to dress Spencer when his body was limp. </p>
<p>The shower was quick, using the last of most of the supplies. The water wasn't as warm as it could be, but Aaron figured that the hot water heater hadn't been ready for Spencer's hot as hell shower. Aaron couldn't understand how his senses lived with showers as hot as he liked when he thought he was dirty. </p>
<p>When Aaron was dressed, he crouched in front of Spencer and cupped the side of his face before drawing him up and into his arms. He put Spencer's face right into his neck and waited. A tongue darted out after a few minutes, and Aaron laughed. </p>
<p>"You are entirely too mischievous."</p>
<p>"Agnew?" Spencer called out instead of what Aaron assumed would be calling Aaron an asshole.</p>
<p>"Yeah, Doc. It's us. Sorry about the guns. They sent in a pair that did not have non-lethal options. If we knew how close you were to a zone, we would have radioed where we were, but someone had tapped into the lines or something because they knew where we were every single time we gave where we were so we have been lying to the Director for the twenty minutes before getting to you. We went down the elevator shaft once we found it."</p>
<p>"Yes, I was made aware of the tap in a private note after you relayed that to Nutter. Don't worry, we have people at the top of the shaft, ready to pull you guys up. We don't want t to try and get access to working it, so we are going to pull you up. Someone else will go down and get things settled with the pair in guard custody. You guys worry about getting up."</p>
<p>"Yes, Sir," Aaron said. He slumped down a little more as Spencer tightened his hold on him. He figured it would be a long while before Spencer let him out of his sight. Aaron couldn't disagree with him wanting to do it either. "Let's get you dressed, Spencer. No one needs to see you running around naked but me." </p>
<hr/>
<p>Aaron read the ticker at the bottom of the TV while he waited for the Director to finish off the phone call he was on. He darted his eyes over to Spencer, who was texting on his work cellphone. Or sending an email. His emotions were flat, meaning that he wasn't feeling one way or another, really. Aaron was used to that. Spencer would do that kind of thing when he was working on case files given how tapped into his feelings Aaron was. Getting pissed about what an UnSub was doing to someone was a sure way to make Aaron pissed off as well.</p>
<p>"Agents?" the secretary called out. She was new, and Aaron couldn't remember the name she had given him. The Director's other was out on medical leave after shattering her arm while falling while running at the park. "He's ready for you."</p>
<p>"Thank you." Aaron stood up and looked at Spencer, who held up a finger. He typed another couple of words and then slipped his phone into his pocket. He looked at Aaron with a smile on his face.</p>
<p>It had been seven weeks since they had been rescued from the Center and in those seven weeks, every single FBI agent that had the clearance and didn't have other jobs they had to be doing had been working on reading and working through every single file for every single Sentinel and Guide that had been found in the subbasement of three Centers. It was strange as hell to think that it had been such a short time. A few Centers were up and running under new management while Aaron and Spencer were working on the new guidelines for everything. </p>
<p>Aaron figured that if someone else had been doing it, it would have been done, but Spencer wanted to have guidelines for everything that they found in files. Intake procedures that made sense but were also all-encompassing. They had sent their first draft of it to the Director three days before. </p>
<p>The team worked cases, and Aaron and Spencer stayed back and did over-the-phone consults with them, or over the computer, whichever was the best for what was going on. Aaron missed heading out into the field, but he knew that this was more important. He found that everyone who was working with them had good ideas. </p>
<p>"Hotch, Reid, welcome. I mainly just wanted to see the two of you. I already had the guidelines sent back by the courier before this spot in my schedule opened up. They will be on your desk by the time you get to work tomorrow. After this next draft that you do, I want you both to take a week off. You jumped into the deep end with all of this, and I know it's because you want to get things moving instead of sitting stagnant for the Sentinels and Guides that are out there, but support for this endeavor is up. The polls speak of regular people and the gifted willing to wait until things are as close to perfect as they can be. We know that things will change slowly as new issues pop up. I have you both set to be on tap for that for two years while we find and train whoever we want. The results are in from the vote that we took by the American people. We did it on full counts, not by the electoral college and the like. We wanted to know what made everyone feel safe. We split it up between mundane and gifted so we can figure out the spread."</p>
<p>"Yes, the results have been kept from everyone until every single one was counted, and the time for the absentee ones for those overseas came in. You have them?"</p>
<p>"Yes. Government oversight into the operations is a go. From both sides. Overwhelming votes on that. Like you said, the Sentinels and Guides were over ninety percent in favor, the mundanes were at seventy. As to the head of that new department, well, your suggestion Reid was the one that won. A council of six with two of each Sentinel, Guide, and mundane with one of each of those being a male and a female. Others to be added if there are issues with others along the gender spectrum, and we have a set of them. None of them can be pairs. That part was what I think sold it, given the way that people were vocal after the voting was over. The heads of the other centers used as the tiebreaker were I think the other draw. There was one thing else that I did want to discuss with both of you after the council is chosen and gone through its paces. The people, mundane and otherwise, want one of you to be on the council for the first year. I agree with that. Whichever one of you wants to step up at that time can. I don't need an answer beyond you will do it. That's two years from now. I don't care which one of you steps up, and the people at this moment don't care either."</p>
<p>"Of course," Aaron said. They had already discussed that and knew that one of them would be asked. Aaron was all for it, and Spencer didn't care either way at the moment. His only focus was getting things running again. </p>
<p>"Good. Good. The trials are done, and all were found guilty. The guards who were just following orders were given the lighter sentence but will be going through morality training. If they fail when they have finished their sentence, they will have a lot of other training to go through. Have there been any issues that you have found with anything?"</p>
<p>"No, Sir. The armed services are liking what has been going out, well at least the ones who don't hate change." Spencer's lips curled in disgust at that. There had been a lot of issues, but not more than what could be handled. The SEALs are stellar examples of that change in the eyes of the public, and it was trickling down to the rest of the Navy and then other service lines. </p>
<p>"How has the DC Center been doing with the damaged Sentinels and Guides that we found. I have a report here, but I want your words, Hotch."</p>
<p>"Well, it's going well. The pairs that were split up are getting better." Aaron had hated that part, finding bonded pairs who were split up between different states because one or both of them were like Aaron and Spencer and didn't fit the narrow profile of what the Center heads had decided were good Sentinels and Guides.</p>
<p>"Will they be able to live outside of the Center?"</p>
<p>"According to the reports so far, if they are, it's a long time from now."</p>
<p>"That's what I thought from my last report. What should we do about that?"</p>
<p>"Upstate New York has an old Sentinel and Guide Center that is not being used. It’s smaller and outgrew itself ten years ago. It's set up nicely for a home where damaged ones can go. There is plenty of land." Spencer leaned forward, dropping a small stack of paper on the desk. It looked like it had been folded up. "I read about it in a report from the main New York Center a while back. They wanted to demo it and build fresh and new for a larger place, but the land that it's on is so far from anyone that they would feel safe there. They can be protected and cared for while still being able to be them and not have to stay cooped up in a wing as if they were prisoners."</p>
<p>"That could work. I'll talk to the agents there, and they can see what the place is like after a few years with no one inside. It'll have to be cleaned up and probably some light maintenance. I'll make sure that happens as soon as possible. I like them having a place they can call home and have a run of the facility. I'll reach out to some people who deal with combat Sentinels and Guides. See who I can weasel away from service to help these guys. I probably won't have to try all that hard to do it either. Is there anything else that you think we need to go over?"</p>
<p>"No, sir."</p>
<p>"Good, then we can get onto your personal lives. How are Jack and Henry settling into the new house?"</p>
<p>"Very good. A larger place with space for everyone is nice. They decide every single night on which room they want to stay in between Henry's parents' side and then Jack's on ours, but it's playful. It always ends up being the room they didn't sleep in the night before. Jessica is settling in well, and her new job is good at letting her work when she can. Will's captain is more than helpful with the time off that he had. JJ's finding it hard to adjust, but I think it's more that it's so easy, and she' gaming it hard." Aaron looked at Spencer as he finished talking. Spencer would have his own thoughts on that, but he wasn't sure what they were.</p>
<p>"Yes, after living on the base and being overly cautious with everything, JJ's adjusting the hardest to life being simple again. Though I have a few issues with that as well. I'm adjusting as well as can be given that I can't go back out on cases yet. I don't think that I'll settle until then, but other than that, I'm good."</p>
<p>"Well, one more draft, and I think we can start to send you guys back out again. I know you guys are looking forward to that. How is everything else?"</p>
<p>"You mean us? Just the same as before," Aaron said. He gave the Director a grin. "We were never the issue. The Center wanted to make it that we were an issue, but we never were. We are as good as we were. Have things changed a little? Yes. Spencer was a little overzealous in dealing with anyone getting close to me after that, but he calmed down when people stopped trying to talk to me when I was out of my office." </p>
<p>"Yes, Dave was quite entertaining telling me about everyone ambushing you outside of your office. He made the comment that he was about to start to escort you to get coffee."</p>
<p>"Well, it's not my fault that all of them made him smell like he was upset. If they would have just left him alone, nothing would have happened." Spencer was pouting a little bit, but Aaron knew that it was partly for humor. </p>
<p>Aaron had hated everyone ambushing him when he left his office. He had the door open and would have rather they all talk to him in there instead of the few minutes he was taking to center his mind while getting coffee. He had started to ask to be left alone after that, but still, people came up to him. He understood they were worried. So Spencer had begun to get his coffee, and if Aaron left his office to use the bathroom, he was escorted. No one bothered him then. If Spencer wasn't around, Dave would go with him. It worked just about as well. </p>
<p>"I think it's calmed down. I got my own coffee the other day, and no one bothered me."</p>
<p>"Good. Keep me up on that. And since it's too late in the day to drive back, just go home for the day."</p>
<p>"We had planned on it, Sir." Spencer gave the Director a smile that was a little too feral for Aaron's liking. Aaron knew that no one was home. JJ was still at the office, Will was working, and Jessica had taken the boys to the zoo. Aaron figured that everything was going to e happening in the bedroom anyway, but he knew that Spencer liked it when they were alone for that. He didn't mind either, really. He liked having his alone time with Spencer in the house. No other minds that might do something and freak him out. They were good, just as good as they had been before. Anything better, and they might explode from being so good together. </p>
<hr/>
<p>Spencer rolled over in bed and smiled as he saw Aaron asleep on his stomach. He so rarely did it, but the bruising on his back wouldn't allow him to sleep like that. It's part of why Spencer was not cuddling into him, he was sure. Even in his sleep, he never did anything to hurt Aaron. </p>
<p>The door creaking open made Spencer smile. He stayed like he was as he listened to two heartbeats cross the room like them just entering the bedroom wouldn't have pulled him out of sleep. He saw Aaron take a slightly deeper breath and felt his mind brush over his. Aaron was awake as well and waiting to see what the boys did. </p>
<p>Spencer had left the bedroom door cracked for just this reason, but he would have assumed that the boys would have snuck in during the night, not at nearly dawn. Though, with how much they wanted to go to the beach, Spencer wasn't shocked that they were up with the sun. </p>
<p>Henry was the first to crawl onto the bed, crawling up between the space between Aaron and Spencer's bodies. Jack climbed up onto Spencer's side and cuddled into his back. It was just about the normal of it. Jack seeking out Spencer while Henry sought out Aaron. There were times when Jack wanted his Guide father and Henry, his fellow Sentinel, but those were rare when they wanted comfort. </p>
<p>"Are they awake?" Henry asked.</p>
<p>"I don't know. I can't tell." </p>
<p>Aaron brushed over Spencer's mind again, and Spencer dropped what little shielding he had to allow Aaron fully in. He felt Aaron's happiness and a little bit of pain. Aaron would need to eat something and take his pills before they had breakfast on the beach. Spencer felt Aaron pushing out his mind onto both of the kids. They screamed and started to laugh. </p>
<p>Jack crawled over Spencer to lay on his side so he could look at his father. Henry thankfully didn't climb on top of Aaron. </p>
<p>"Hey, Jack, why don't you go and grab that pack of pop-tarts you keep hidden in your room for late-night snacks and let your dad eat it so he can take his medication?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"Sure." Jack slid off of Spencer and took off running from the room.</p>
<p>Aaron laughed as he rolled to his side and got up to that he could sit on the bed. He crossed his legs, and Henry was there in his lap as soon as he was settled. It was a beautiful picture. </p>
<p>"How is it this morning?" Spencer asked.</p>
<p>"Stiff and sore. Not horrible, though I will gladly take the whole pill for both." </p>
<p>Spencer rolled to his back and grabbed the container for Aaron's morning meds. Jack came back into the room with not only a pack of strawberry pop-tarts but one of those drinks that Aaron liked before he went on a run. </p>
<p>"Papa gave this to me for you," Jack said as he held out the bottled vitamin water. </p>
<p>"Thanks, buddy," Aaron said as he took it and opened it up, and took a drink. Jack handed over the pop-tarts next and then crawled back up onto the bed and right onto Spencer. </p>
<p>There had been a very frank discussion on names a week before with Jack and Henry deciding who was going to be called what. JJ was easy with Mommy. And Will was partial to Papa. Jack had always called Aaron Daddy, so Dad and Daddy were his. It was Spencer that was the issue. Henry had offered up Pops, and so far, it was the winner. It was all kinds of adorable, really to Spencer. </p>
<p>It wasn't the most typical situation for anyone, but they were making it all work as much as they could. Henry was calling Jessica aunt from long before this, so it was really just working out well. Their family unit was strange for the US but not for some of the older countries in the world and especially not historically. </p>
<p>"So breakfast at the beach?" Aaron asked once he had eaten his food and finished off the drink under Jack's watchful eye. Spencer handed over the pills before he drank all of the vitamin water. </p>
<p>"Yes!" Henry and Jack chimed in.</p>
<p>"Well, then you had better go get ready. I can smell that Papa's just about done with the food.</p>
<p>Jack nodded his head and tugged at Henry as if he wasn't already climbing off of Aaron's lap. </p>
<p>"Need me to give you a shoulder rub?" Spencer asked when Aaron rolled his shoulders again. </p>
<p>"Please." Aaron turned around, tugging his T-shirt off as he did. Spencer sat up and reached out to gently skim his hands over the bruise that was getting darker, looking on Aaron's back. Then he started to give Aaron a light massage on his shoulders, working those muscles loose so that the rest of his back would loosen up as well. They were lucky it was all that it was. The UnSub they had been chasing had ended up taking a baseball bat to Aaron's back like he was trying to hit a home run. There were no fractures to any of Aaron's bones, just a lot of deep muscle bruising. It had knocked the wind out of him, and the overwhelming pain in the bond between them had sent Spencer into a feral battle drive. </p>
<p>The UnSub had been alive when Spencer was done with him, but he wouldn't probably ever be able to look at a Sentinel again without pissing his pants. Spencer was okay with that. Morgan had been shocked that he wasn't dead, but then Aaron hadn't been hurt enough at the time that he was unconscious or anything like that. He wasn't in a super amount of pain once the shock wore off and so he was able to temper Spencer a little.</p>
<p>It hadn't stopped Spencer from hunting the man after he ran, though. As soon as Aaron had started to go down, Spencer had turned a little feral, and he had dropped everything from outside the warehouse to chase down the UnSub. The UnSub had made it about a half of a mile before Spencer had got close enough to see him and just a few hundred feet before Spencer had him on the ground. </p>
<p>"POPS!" Henry yelled. </p>
<p>"I bet he broke a shoelace again," Aaron said with a smile on his face. </p>
<p>Spencer felt like flipping him off, but he didn't. He got up and walked to the room the boys were staying in, and Aaron was right that henry was sitting there with a broken shoelace in hand. Spencer snagged a new one from the baggie of them that was in Henry's suitcase, and he worked on rethreading it through the eyes of the shoe. Jack had taught Henry how to tie his shoes, and it was a good thing. It was also why they bought shoelaces of the exact same kind by the dozen each week. He was breaking less of them than he had. It was a good lesson in his strength. It was just something that was a little bothersome while they were on vacation. There wasn't another pair of shoes that Henry could just grab and put on. </p>
<p>Henry crawled into Spencer's lap when he was done and let Spencer tie his shoes for him. Spencer wrapped his arms around him and held him tight, rocking them both back and forth on the bed. The sound of feet had Spencer looking up to see JJ holding two cups in her hands. Spencer held out one hand, and she walked over to hand it to him. </p>
<p>"Hotch is in the shower, so I'll slip this into the bathroom."</p>
<p>"Sure. I need to get dressed, but I showered last night. I have that cream I need to rub into Aaron's muscles before he puts on a shirt." </p>
<p>"Papa's looking for helpers to pack up the food," JJ said. </p>
<p>The kids were gone like lightning. </p>
<p>"How's he doing?"</p>
<p>"Stiff. It took forever for him to settle into sleep last night. I'll thank Will for taking care of food later. Thanks for the coffee. I'll take Aaron's to him since you got rid of the leeches."</p>
<p>"NOT LEECH!" Henry yelled from downstairs, and it made Spencer laugh. It was a running joke about the boys since the whole mess with the Centers had started. </p>
<p>Spencer smiled at JJ.</p>
<p>"We've got them, and we will head down. Join us when you can. I'm glad you got us this nice place."</p>
<p>"The Director is the one who owns it. He maintains it for himself as well as a few other higher-ups when they want a weekend away and don't want to deal with even private rented beaches. It's really damned nice."</p>
<p>"Yeah, it is."</p>
<p>Spencer stood up and walked up to kiss JJ on the cheek. He nuzzled in there a little, liking when her scent calmed down a little bit. She had spent the whole trip worried about Aaron and the drive. It was part of why he was so tense the night before. </p>
<p>"Let go of the guilt," Spencer said. </p>
<p>"I am. Slowly." </p>
<p>Spencer tugged her into a hug, making sure to not spill either of the drinks. "He would have done the same damned thing even if you weren't pregnant." </p>
<p>"I know. I know that. It still hurts, no matter who gets hurt on the team."</p>
<p>Spencer understood what she meant. Aaron had made the UnSub focus on him when he and JJ had been caught in a room with him after losing their guns when falling through a bit of broken floor. Aaron had made sure that he held onto JJ as they fell, and it had dazed him and allowed the UnSub to get at him with the bat. </p>
<p>JJ hadn't even known she was pregnant before Spencer had smelled the changes in her scent from it. His mind had processed the scent as the same one she had when she was carrying Henry, and it had just snapped into place. </p>
<p>"That asshole in White Collar Crimes made a comment again."</p>
<p>"I'll report him again. It doesn't matter what our families do. We make our own decisions. It's not a burden."</p>
<p>"I know, but it pisses me off, and I can't do a damned thing about it other than report him."</p>
<p>"He's just jealous because he went through a divorce, and even before then, she never wanted to go on a vacation with him, much less any of their friends."</p>
<p>JJ laughed even though they both knew that Spencer was lying out his ass about it. The man was just stupid about his beliefs, and his free speech means that he can say what he wants, and no one can say a thing back to him. Let's not think about him, and instead, think about all of the looks Will and Aaron are going to get from the other people on the beaches to either side of us."</p>
<p>JJ snorted and hugged Spencer tightly before letting him go. It felt good. To be here like this with his family. He hadn't had a family in so long, and other than his mother, he didn't really think that family was something that he had. His father had never acted like it. Spencer could never see leaving Jack or Henry behind. </p>
<p>Spencer heard Aaron call out his name from the bathroom, so he let go of JJ and took the second mug from her. He finished off his coffee, a need this morning instead of tea, and wandered toward their room. He found Aaron waiting with his jeans on and his shirt lying on the counter. His back was horrible looking. Spencer grabbed the tub of muscle relaxer that also doubled as a bruise cream, which was a good thing. Spencer hated Aaron being in pain, but he hated this visible reminder of what had happened to him. </p>
<p>"How's JJ? I could feel her angst."</p>
<p>"She's good. It'll take her a little while to settle. The hormones from pregnancy, even as small as they are now, are wreaking havoc on her body. She'll settle down quickly." </p>
<p>Spencer scooped out what he needed and started to spread it all over before he began to work it into Aaron's skin.  He could feel the pain from Aaron at the act but knew that once it was worked in, Aaron would feel better than he did before he did it, so it was worth it. </p>
<p>"Ready for a day at the beach?" Spencer asked after Aaron had slipped on his T-shirt. "You know that we aren't getting the boys out of sand and water until they pass out."</p>
<p>"Yeah. I'm ready," Aaron said.</p>
<p>Spencer wasn't sure that Aaron was just talking about the day at the beach. Things had been rocky all over the country, but they were finally getting on an even keel several months after the Center had been finally fully reworked. Life was settling down into the usual chaos that it was, and Spencer was happy for it.</p>
<p>Other things would come up on the horizon, but they could handle them easily. They were a unit, a bonded pair, and nothing was going to pull them apart now.</p>
<h1>The End</h1>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. </p>
<p>Thank you for reading my story! I will be responding less to comments so please don't take it to heart. I see all comments and love them but most will get just a "Thanks!". </p>
<p>Check my profile for other ways to engage with me in social settings.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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